Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Buys 37,727 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 53.4%, acquiring an additional 37,727 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately $9.4 million.
• Assured Guaranty recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.01 per share, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $1.57, despite revenue exceeding estimates at $281 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.6% and a payout ratio of 15.03%.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,727 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.22% of Assured Guaranty worth $9,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.1% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 46,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,046,000 after buying an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $405,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.9% in the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 34,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO opened at $84.35 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.25. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $74.09 and a 12-month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 291,728 shares in the company, valued at $23,778,749.28. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $2,095,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,287,803 shares in the company, valued at $107,956,525.49. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.50.

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.

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