Gotham Asset Management LLC Sells 11,053 Shares of 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 trimmed its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,053 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Assured Guaranty worth $15,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 27.6% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $104,000. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 583.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 554.2% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AGO. Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. One investment 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.com, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.50.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AGO traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $82.02. 384,814 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,185. The company's 50 day moving average is $83.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.74. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.56). Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The firm had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued 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 yield of 1.7%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

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.