TT Capital Management LLC Buys 30,075 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

TT Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 145.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,075 shares during the period. Assured Guaranty makes up 1.7% of TT Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. TT Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $3,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at approximately $463,926,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,885,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,483,000 after purchasing an additional 42,311 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 32.9% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 499,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,687,000 after purchasing an additional 123,672 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,108,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $23,025,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Roth Capital raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.00.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $70.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 76,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 373,519. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $67.24 and a 1-year high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides financial guarantees and related insurance services through its subsidiaries. The company helps protect investors and lenders from losses arising from defaults on debt obligations, with a primary focus on public finance and structured finance markets.

Its public finance business provides guarantees for municipal bonds and other obligations issued to fund essential infrastructure and public services, including transportation, utilities, healthcare and education.