Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 96.1% in the first quarter, holding a total of 64,861 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million.
• Insider transactions revealed notable sales, including CAO Laura Bieling selling 2,649 shares and CEO Dominic Frederico selling 71,917 shares, indicating a 5.06% and 16.44% decrease in their positions, respectively.
• Assured Guaranty recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 1.61% and reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 16.25%.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 96.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,861 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 31,791 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Assured Guaranty worth $5,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,134,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $99,977,000 after purchasing an additional 129,026 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,796,000 after buying an additional 13,552 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth about $50,447,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 533,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,001,000 after buying an additional 63,375 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 89.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 488,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,005,000 after acquiring an additional 230,258 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AGO stock traded down $0.32 on Wednesday, reaching $83.79. 210,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,527. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50 day moving average price is $84.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $345.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $257.96 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.58% and a return on equity of 7.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 16.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total transaction of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $6,192,772.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,348,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,082,566.03. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 85,004 shares of company stock worth $7,324,274. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty 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.