American Century Companies Inc. Buys 40,354 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,052,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,354 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.14% of Assured Guaranty worth $91,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3.2% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,220,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 19.7% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 24,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE AGO opened at $90.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.94. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $96.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 1,882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.64, for a total value of $31,316.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,281,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,877,703.68. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $2,095,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,287,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,956,525.49. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,929 shares of company stock valued at $2,386,674. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

About Assured Guaranty

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.