Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 6,496 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 69.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,496 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $100,463,000 after acquiring an additional 449,310 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 13,552 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 990,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,127,000 after purchasing an additional 9,062 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 903,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,303,000 after purchasing an additional 97,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 806,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,904,000 after buying an additional 254,063 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total transaction of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $6,192,772.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,348,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,082,566.03. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 85,004 shares of company stock worth $7,324,274. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AGO traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $84.14. 291,765 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 342,669. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.83.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $345.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 16.25%.

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.