Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Sells 52,008 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 42.3%, owning approximately 0.14% of the company after selling over 52,000 shares.
• Assured Guaranty reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations, despite a revenue increase of 39.1% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with a payout ratio of 15.03% and an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 42.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,897 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 52,008 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Assured Guaranty worth $6,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 27.6% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at $97,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at $104,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 554.2% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

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 dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total value of $3,260,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of AGO traded down $0.24 on Thursday, reaching $81.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 321,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,062. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.83 and a 200-day moving average of $85.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.50.

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.