Reinhart Partners LLC. Has $99.16 Million Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Reinhart Partners LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 0.3%, owning approximately 1.14 million shares, which makes up 3.4% of its portfolio.
• Assured Guaranty reported earnings of $1.01 per share, missing analysts' expectations of $1.57, although it achieved a 39.1% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• Insider trading activity included COO Robert Bailenson selling 40,000 shares at an average price of $81.51, reducing his ownership by 12.06%.

Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,138,398 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares during the quarter. Assured Guaranty accounts for about 3.4% of Reinhart Partners LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Reinhart Partners LLC. owned about 2.32% of Assured Guaranty worth $99,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $104,000. State of Wyoming grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 583.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 554.2% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.64. 1,072,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 292,694. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $74.09 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.56). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Assured Guaranty's revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the firm'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 owned 291,728 shares in the company, valued at $23,778,749.28. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AGO. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. 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 shares of Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.