Gotham Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 6.0%, selling 11,053 shares and retaining approximately 172,350 shares worth $15.18 million.
• Several other institutional investors, including Mercer Global Advisors and Ameriprise Financial, have increased their holdings in Assured Guaranty, indicating growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Assured Guaranty's recent earnings report showed disappointing EPS results of $1.01, missing estimates by $0.56, despite a 39.1% year-over-year revenue increase.

Gotham Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,053 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned about 0.35% of Assured Guaranty worth $15,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $293,632,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,134,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,977,000 after purchasing an additional 129,026 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,012,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,206,000 after buying an additional 109,282 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,000,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $88,167,000 after buying an additional 10,567 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 581,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,267,000 after acquiring an additional 48,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded up $0.53 on Thursday, reaching $82.28. 67,862 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 329,087. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $74.09 and a 1-year high of $96.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

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.