Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 47.9%, acquiring an additional 57,116 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.35% valued at $15.5 million.
• Insider selling was noted, with COO Robert Bailenson selling 40,000 shares for around $3.26 million, while CEO Dominic Frederico sold 10,438 shares valued at $899,025.
• Assured Guaranty experienced a quarterly earnings miss, reporting $1.01 earnings per share compared to analysts' estimates of $1.57, though it did see a revenue increase of 39.1% year-over-year.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 47.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 176,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 57,116 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.35% of Assured Guaranty worth $15,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $293,632,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,134,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,977,000 after acquiring an additional 129,026 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,000,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,167,000 after buying an additional 10,567 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $89,796,000 after purchasing an additional 13,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised 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. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group set a $92.00 price target on shares of Assured Guaranty and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE AGO traded down $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.63. The stock had a trading volume of 326,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,356. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business's 50-day moving average price is $84.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.99. The company has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.88.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 10,438 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $115,210,502.55. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total value of $3,260,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares in the company, valued at $23,778,749.28. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 122,355 shares of company stock valued at $10,352,198. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.