Vanguard Group Inc. Has $552.97 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake by 2.8% to 6,153,030 shares and still owns about 13.34% of Assured Guaranty, roughly $552.97 million, while institutional investors hold ~92.22% of the stock.
• Assured Guaranty beat expectations with Q EPS $2.32 vs $1.54 estimate and revenue of $277M (up 77.6% YoY), and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $98.50 price target.
• Company insiders have been significant net sellers — including the CEO and a director — with 174,969 shares sold (~$14.1M) in the last 90 days, lowering insider ownership to about 5.7%.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,153,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 178,301 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 13.34% of Assured Guaranty worth $552,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth $44,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,264,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Francisco L. Borges sold 123,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 176,952 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,195,089.44. This represents a 41.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 174,969 shares of company stock worth $14,096,948. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AGO opened at $81.71 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $83.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $78.77 and a 12-month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The firm's revenue was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.84%.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company's primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.

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