Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $12.05 Million Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 14.5% in Q1, owning 136,819 shares valued at approximately $12.05 million after acquiring an additional 17,373 shares.
• Assured Guaranty reported a missed earnings per share estimate for the latest quarter at $1.01, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57, while revenues were significantly higher at $281 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.7%, with a dividend payout ratio of 15.03% as of the last reporting period.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 14.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,373 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.27% of Assured Guaranty worth $12,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $104,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 554.2% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $218,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.4%

AGO traded up $1.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $82.06. 42,235 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 330,316. The company's fifty day moving average price is $84.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07 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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Assured Guaranty's revenue was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on 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 owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

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.