Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Major Shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured Sells 6,258 Shares

Key Points

• Major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 6,258 shares of Assured Guaranty stock at an average price of $16.90, representing a 0.12% decrease in their ownership position.
• The company's stock has experienced mixed analyst ratings, with some upgrades to "buy" and others lowering their price targets; the consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $98.50.
• Assured Guaranty recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.01 EPS, which was below the expected $1.57 EPS, yet their revenue increased by 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 6,258 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $105,760.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,282,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,282,598.60. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's shares 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 transaction 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.
• On Thursday, October 9th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,409 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.78, for a total value of $60,612.02.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO traded up $1.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.18. The stock had a trading volume of 242,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,185. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.92. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $74.09 and a 1-year high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.56). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 27.6% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

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