Nuveen LLC Purchases Shares of 3,332,935 Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd., purchasing approximately 3.33 million shares valued at $293.63 million, representing 6.67% of the company's stock.
• Assured Guaranty reported earnings of $1.01 EPS, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.57 EPS, despite a quarterly revenue increase of 39.1% year-over-year to $281 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.7%, with a payout ratio of 16.25%.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,332,935 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $293,632,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 6.67% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 129,026 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.1% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,000,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,167,000 after purchasing an additional 10,567 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,796,000 after purchasing an additional 13,552 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 533,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,001,000 after acquiring an additional 63,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 488,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,005,000 after acquiring an additional 230,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. UBS Group set a $92.00 price target on Assured Guaranty and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th.

Insider Activity

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 10,438 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $899,024.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,337,635 shares in the company, valued at $115,210,502.55. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the business'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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,355 shares of company stock valued at $10,352,198 over the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 87,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,769. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $96.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $84.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.14. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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 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 business had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.03%.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.