Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Major Shareholder Sells $60,612.02 in Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,409 shares of Assured Guaranty stock for $60,612.02, reducing their ownership by 0.06% and leaving them with approximately 5.29 million shares valued at around $94.12 million.
• Assured Guaranty reported a quarterly earnings miss with $1.01 earnings per share, falling short of the $1.57 consensus estimate, despite a 39.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $281 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34, resulting in a 1.7% dividend yield, with a current payout ratio of 15.03%.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,409 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.78, for a total value of $60,612.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,293,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,121,523.72. The trade was a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $17.51, for a total value of $55,944.45.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.29. 186,650 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 321,555. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $82.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. 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 quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The company had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,036,000 after purchasing an additional 5,826 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 70,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,222,000 after purchasing an additional 20,779 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $669,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $624,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AGO. Wall Street Zen lowered Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.50.

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.

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