Intech Investment Management LLC Has $14.41 Million Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 2.7%, owning approximately 163,584 shares worth around $14.4 million after selling 4,557 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Royal Bank of Canada, increased their stakes in Assured Guaranty, which now has approximately 92.22% of its stock owned by institutional investors.
• Assured Guaranty's recent earnings report revealed a net margin of 44.53% but missed earnings estimates, with a reported EPS of $1.01 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57.

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,557 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.33% of Assured Guaranty worth $14,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted 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 worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $104,000. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 583.3% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $82.09. The company had a trading volume of 86,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,312. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.50. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $74.09 and a 1-year high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.