Hsbc Holdings PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 74.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,946 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.20% of Assured Guaranty worth $7,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at $51,538,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 176.3% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,935,000 after purchasing an additional 233,966 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 261.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,830,000 after purchasing an additional 230,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 60.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 182,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,480,000 after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,002,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,787,188.96. This represents a 31.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE AGO opened at $84.41 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.76 and a one year high of $92.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.24.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AGO. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Capital cut 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.67.

About Assured Guaranty

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.