Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 4.6%, selling 173,282 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 3.6 million shares worth $318.5 million.
• Assured Guaranty reported earnings of $1.01 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57, although their revenue increased by 39.1% year-over-year to $281 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 20th.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,615,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 173,282 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 7.24% of Assured Guaranty worth $318,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,305,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 7.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,036,000 after acquiring an additional 5,826 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 41.7% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 70,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,222,000 after buying an additional 20,779 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $624,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock traded up $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.23. 48,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 330,364. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.88. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $74.09 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $84.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $203.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Assured Guaranty's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,778,749.28. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty 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.