Vest Financial LLC Acquires 10,511 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 27.0%, purchasing an additional 10,511 shares, bringing its total ownership to 49,480 shares worth approximately $4.31 million.
• Assured Guaranty reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.01, missing analysts' expectations, but experienced a 39.1% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, which represents an annual yield of 1.7% and reflects a 15.03% dividend payout ratio.

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 27.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,511 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Assured Guaranty worth $4,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $293,632,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,138,398 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $99,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,012,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,206,000 after purchasing an additional 109,282 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,000,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,167,000 after purchasing an additional 10,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 581,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,267,000 after purchasing an additional 48,631 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE AGO opened at $81.21 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.02. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $96.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.56). Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The firm had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $203.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company's revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of Assured Guaranty 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 of the company's stock, valued at $107,956,525.49. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.

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