67,193 Shares in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Bought by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired 67,193 shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd., valued at approximately $5.92 million, increasing their stake to 0.14% of the company.
• Assured Guaranty reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing estimates by $0.56, although revenue increased by 39.1% year-over-year to $281 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34, with a dividend yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 15.03%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 67,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,920,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Assured Guaranty as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth $97,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at about $104,000. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 583.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 554.2% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $81.92 on Tuesday. 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 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $96.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.76. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total value of $3,260,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty 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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