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

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 943,800 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the November 15th total of 893,700 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 328,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $90.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.01 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty has a 1 year low of $71.41 and a 1 year high of $96.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty’s quarterly revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 9.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

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.