Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 51,532 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Brown Advisory Inc. decreased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 436,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 51,532 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.95% of Assured Guaranty worth $39,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 79,986 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,188,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at $2,002,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 49,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Francisco L. Borges sold 123,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total transaction of $9,927,225.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 176,952 shares in the company, valued at $14,195,089.44. This represents a 41.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the sale, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 224,797 shares of company stock valued at $17,999,537. Insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $75.81 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average is $78.96 and its 200 day moving average is $83.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 0.76. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company's revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Assured Guaranty Company 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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