Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $1.14 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 15,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000. Assured Guaranty makes up 1.2% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,561,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 547.9% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 642,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,881,000 after acquiring an additional 543,291 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,928,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,714,000 after purchasing an additional 410,594 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 102.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 380,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,246,000 after acquiring an additional 193,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 63.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 406,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,631,000 after buying an additional 158,638 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total value of $5,083,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,450,824 shares in the company, valued at $134,099,662.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.31. The company had a trading volume of 128,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,578. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $49.84 and a 52 week high of $96.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.72.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $4.57. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $233.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 10.00%.

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.