Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Stake Lowered by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 0.8%, now owning approximately 6.58 million shares valued at about $579.8 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Wells Fargo and Envestnet Asset Management, have increased their stakes in Assured Guaranty during the previous quarter.
• Assured Guaranty recently reported earnings per share of $1.01, missing estimates of $1.57, while its revenue increased by 39.1% year over year.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,581,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 54,530 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.18% of Assured Guaranty worth $579,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at $1,305,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,036,000 after buying an additional 5,826 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 41.7% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 70,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,222,000 after buying an additional 20,779 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at $624,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group set a $92.00 target price on Assured Guaranty and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

Insider Activity

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $6,192,772.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,348,073 shares in the company, valued at $116,082,566.03. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total value of $3,260,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,355 shares of company stock worth $10,352,198 over the last three months. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE AGO traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.63. 326,603 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 334,356. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.88. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $74.09 and a 52-week high of $96.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.03%.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.