Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Major Shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured Sells 3,409 Shares

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.78, for a total value of $60,612.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,293,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,121,523.72. This represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Guaranty Ltd Assured also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 14th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 1,227 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.38, for a total value of $21,325.26.
• On Monday, October 13th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,195 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.51, for a total transaction of $55,944.45.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $82.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.01. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $74.09 and a 52-week high of $96.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.56). The business had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business’s revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 15.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 554.2% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the first quarter valued at about $1,305,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 41.7% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 70,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,222,000 after acquiring an additional 20,779 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,552,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.