UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management cut its Assured Guaranty position by 96.8% in the second quarter, selling 140,891 shares and retaining 4,628 shares worth approximately $371,000. Institutional investors collectively own 92.22% of AGO.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly earnings of $1.23 per share on $195 million in revenue. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equivalent to a 2.1% yield.
• AGO was trading at $72.98, near its one-year low, while analysts held a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $90.33; ratings ranged from Buy to Hold.

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 96.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,628 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 140,891 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $371,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Prelude Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO opened at $72.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $79.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.98. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $72.13 and a 1-year high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. The trade was a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.33.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd. NYSE: AGO is a Bermuda-based financial services company that provides financial guarantees and related credit enhancement products. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps support the repayment of debt issued by public-sector entities, infrastructure projects and other borrowers.

The company's principal business is financial guaranty insurance, which generally protects investors against scheduled principal and interest payment defaults on insured obligations.

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