Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Invests $3.08 Million in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 37,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,080,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.3% in the third quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.33.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares in the company, valued at $24,787,188.96. This represents a 31.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $82.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.97 and a 200 day moving average of $82.46. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.45%.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.