Amundi Has $5.80 Million Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 7.1%, selling 5,305 shares to hold 68,923 shares valued at approximately $5.8 million.
• Assured Guaranty reported $1.01 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, missing consensus estimates of $1.57, despite a revenue increase of 39.1% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, equating to an annualized $1.36 dividend and a yield of 1.7%.

Amundi lowered its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,923 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,305 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.14% of Assured Guaranty worth $5,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AGO. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 360,667 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,464,000 after purchasing an additional 6,978 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at about $254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE:AGO traded down $0.78 on Tuesday, hitting $80.66. The company had a trading volume of 326,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,393. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.91. 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 50 day moving average of $82.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.43. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $74.09 and a 52 week 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 the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.56). The company had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. Assured Guaranty's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,778,749.28. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.50.

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.