VELA Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,165 shares during the quarter. Assured Guaranty makes up about 0.9% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $3,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.6% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $92.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.93 and a 200-day moving average of $86.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 month high of $96.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.57%.

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.