Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $73.67 Million Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 926,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $73,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 55.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $87.53 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.01 and a 200-day moving average of $79.32. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $64.59 and a 52-week high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 10.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company 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.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty 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.