Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO is LRI Investments LLC's 9th Largest Position

Key Points

• LRI Investments LLC has increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 1.5%, making it the firm's 9th largest holding with approximately 296,957 shares valued at $25.87 million.
• Insider selling was noted as COO Robert Bailenson and CEO Dominic Frederico sold shares of the company, decreasing their positions by 12.06% and 1.90%, respectively.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $1.01, missing analysts' expectations of $1.57, while revenue rose 39.1% year-over-year to $281 million.

LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 296,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,528 shares during the period. Assured Guaranty comprises approximately 2.0% of LRI Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. LRI Investments LLC owned 0.60% of Assured Guaranty worth $25,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at $1,305,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $7,036,000 after purchasing an additional 5,826 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $6,222,000 after purchasing an additional 20,779 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at $669,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at $624,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares in the company, valued at $23,778,749.28. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $2,095,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,287,803 shares in the company, valued at $107,956,525.49. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $80.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $82.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.09. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The firm had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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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