Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires New Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 14,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,305,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,794.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 10,438 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $899,024.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,337,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,210,502.55. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total value of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,004 shares of company stock valued at $7,324,274 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO traded down $0.67 on Monday, reaching $84.83. The stock had a trading volume of 375,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,675. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.57 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The business's 50-day moving average price is $85.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.34. The stock has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.82.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 45.58%. The firm had revenue of $345.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $257.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.25%.

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.