Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 42,625 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 809.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,625 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $3,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1,990.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 60,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 57,928 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 279.2% in the first quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC now owns 15,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 11,358 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 42.7% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 24,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 7,222 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $885,000. Finally, Symmetry Partners LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $908,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AGO opened at $80.88 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $58.27 and a 52-week high of $96.60. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.74 and a 200 day moving average of $80.04.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The business’s revenue was down 43.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.