Sei Investments Co. Buys 42,672 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 106.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,672 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.15% of Assured Guaranty worth $6,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the second quarter worth $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 535.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $79.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.65 and its 200 day moving average is $79.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $58.27 and a 12 month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AGO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.