Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires Shares of 9,303 Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 7.0 %

Shares of AGO opened at $88.23 on Thursday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $63.66 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. The firm’s revenue was down 43.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AGO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.