GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 750 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 750 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $89.66 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.16. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.57 and a 12-month high of $96.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

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.