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

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000. Assured Guaranty accounts for approximately 1.2% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AGO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,561,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 547.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 642,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,881,000 after purchasing an additional 543,291 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $504,714,000 after purchasing an additional 410,594 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 102.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 380,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,246,000 after purchasing an additional 193,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 406,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,631,000 after purchasing an additional 158,638 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other 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 transaction of $5,083,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,450,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,099,662.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.4 %

AGO stock traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.31. The stock had a trading volume of 128,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,578. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $49.84 and a 12-month high of $96.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.72.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $233.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.15 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 53.82% and a return on equity of 11.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted 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.

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.