Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,928,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $504,714,000 after purchasing an additional 410,594 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 102.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 380,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,246,000 after purchasing an additional 193,081 shares in the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 83.9% in the 2nd quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC now owns 342,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,109,000 after purchasing an additional 156,256 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 550,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,027,000 after purchasing an additional 111,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,158,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,035,000 after purchasing an additional 108,726 shares in the last quarter. 90.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, insider Howard Albert sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total value of $2,319,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,907,206. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.51% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO opened at $62.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.92. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $45.91 and a 52-week high of $67.13.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $41.00 million for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 42.22% and a return on equity of 9.10%.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 16th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 11th. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, November 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock.

About Assured Guaranty

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Assured Guaranty Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Insurance and Asset Management. It offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.