Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 1,388 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $174,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AGO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total transaction of $5,083,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,450,824 shares in the company, valued at $134,099,662.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $78.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $49.84 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.71. The firm has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 1.12.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $4.57. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 53.82% and a return on equity of 11.82%. The company had revenue of $233.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.15 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 10.00%.

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.