Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 935,600 shares, an increase of 14.1% from the September 30th total of 820,200 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 357,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE:AGO traded down $2.23 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $83.46. 320,173 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,479. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $61.83 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. 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 (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 43.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AGO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGO. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,990.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 60,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 57,928 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 279.2% in the first quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC now owns 15,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 11,358 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 42.7% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 24,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 7,222 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth $885,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at $861,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.