Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $26.40 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 3.9%, selling 12,043 shares to end the first quarter with 299,703 shares.
• Insider activity saw COO Robert Bailenson sell 40,000 shares at an average price of $81.51, decreasing his ownership by 12.06%.
• Assured Guaranty's latest quarterly earnings report revealed EPS of $1.01, falling short of analysts' expectations, despite a 39.1% year-over-year revenue increase.

Raymond James Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 299,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,043 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Assured Guaranty worth $26,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,305,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake 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 period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at about $624,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of 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. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group dropped 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, Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO traded down $0.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $81.82. 321,963 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 332,013. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.88. 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 Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.56). The business had revenue of $281.00 million for 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 quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total transaction of $3,260,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

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.