Invesco Ltd. Sells 141,036 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 30.7%, now holding approximately 0.64% of the company with 318,435 shares valued at $28 million.
• Assured Guaranty recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34, indicating a yield of 1.7%, with a payout ratio of 15.03% as of the latest disclosures.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.01 for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations of $1.57, although revenue increased by 39.1% year-over-year.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 318,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 141,036 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.64% of Assured Guaranty worth $28,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AGO. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Assured Guaranty stock traded up $1.5330 on Friday, reaching $82.4230. The company's stock had a trading volume of 232,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 346,804. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 0.88. The business's fifty day moving average price is $84.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.56. 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 posted 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). The business had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.Assured Guaranty's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

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.