Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, a decrease of 7.0% from the February 13th total of 1,140,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 285,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.
Assured Guaranty Stock Performance
NYSE:AGO traded down $2.02 on Friday, hitting $48.05. The stock had a trading volume of 72,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,249. Assured Guaranty has a 52-week low of $45.91 and a 52-week high of $67.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $60.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.34.
Get Assured Guaranty alerts:Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 8th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 7th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 57.73%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Thursday. They set a "sell" rating for the company. Finally, Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, November 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.33.
Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 540 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 59.8% during the third quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.1% during the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 10,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 5,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. 90.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Assured Guaranty Company Profile
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Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of credit protection products to the U.S. and international public finance, and structured finance markets through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The Insurance segment includes the company's domestic and foreign insurance subsidiaries and their wholly-owned subsidiaries that provide credit protection products to the U.S.
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