Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO – Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 862,500 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the February 14th total of 916,800 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 310,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Separately, UBS Group upped their target price 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.
Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.3 %
NYSE AGO traded down $0.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $90.57. 421,141 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 328,799. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $96.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.82.
Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $4.57. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 53.82% and a return on equity of 11.82%. The business had revenue of $233.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 10.00%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 275.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 17.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 107,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,829,000 after purchasing an additional 15,838 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 2,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 20,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after buying an additional 5,388 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.