Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,575 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $16,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter valued at $30,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 10,803 shares of company stock valued at $156,663 in the last three months. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $86.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $74.09 and a 52-week high of $93.12. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.