Barclays PLC Has $1.98 Million Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 214.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,956 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in 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 during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO opened at $89.64 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.60. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $88.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

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.