Allianz Asset Management GmbH Trims Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH has reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 33%, now holding 391,352 shares worth approximately $34.1 million after selling 192,835 shares in Q2.
• Assured Guaranty reported $1.01 earnings per share, missing estimates by $0.56, while its revenue of $281 million exceeded analyst expectations.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, representing a yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 15.03%.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 391,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 192,835 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.80% of Assured Guaranty worth $34,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,036,000 after buying an additional 5,826 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 41.7% during 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 buying an additional 20,779 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $669,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $624,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $80.18 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $82.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.84. The stock 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 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.56). The firm had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $2,095,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,287,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $107,956,525.49. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 6,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $105,760.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,282,994 shares in the company, valued at $89,282,598.60. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 79,089 shares of company stock valued at $5,599,792. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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