Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 983,385 shares valued at about $88.4 million and remained one of the company’s largest shareholders.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CEO Dominic Frederico and COO Robert Bailenson both selling shares recently; insiders sold 224,969 shares worth about $18.0 million over the last quarter.
• Assured Guaranty beat earnings expectations for the latest quarter, reporting $2.50 EPS versus $1.50 expected, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $92.33.

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 983,385 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 52,442 shares during the period. Assured Guaranty makes up approximately 0.9% of Royce & Associates LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Royce & Associates LP owned about 2.13% of Assured Guaranty worth $88,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,264,295 shares in the company, valued at $102,926,255.95. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 224,969 shares of company stock worth $18,027,948 over the last quarter. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Mkm lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.1%

AGO stock opened at $76.93 on Tuesday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $74.18 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.26.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 EPS. The company's revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 17.45%.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company's primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.

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