Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 2,897 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,897 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.8% in the first quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,134,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $99,977,000 after acquiring an additional 129,026 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,463,000 after purchasing an additional 449,310 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,796,000 after purchasing an additional 13,552 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 990,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,127,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 903,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $81,303,000 after purchasing an additional 97,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.07. 128,153 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 333,421. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.58% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $345.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 16.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total transaction of $232,476.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,462 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,425.12. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $6,192,772.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,348,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,082,566.03. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,004 shares of company stock worth $7,324,274. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

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.