Caprock Group LLC Invests $944,000 in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $944,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 58.3% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,791,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,549,000 after acquiring an additional 660,009 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 4.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,052,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,708,000 after purchasing an additional 40,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,606,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 182,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 419,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,516,000 after purchasing an additional 40,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 10,701 shares of company stock valued at $154,990 over the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $86.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.25. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $74.09 and a 52 week high of $93.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.