WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 64,952 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd sharply reduced its Assured Guaranty stake in the fourth quarter, selling 64,952 shares and cutting its holdings by 88.9% to 8,100 shares worth about $728,000.
• Assured Guaranty reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $2.50 EPS versus the $1.50 consensus and revenue of $261 million, though revenue still fell 24.3% year over year.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, which annualizes to $1.52 and yields about 2.0%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $92.33 average price target.

WINTON GROUP Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 88.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 64,952 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AGO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 22,486 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,024,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $553,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $76.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.25. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.76 and a 52 week high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. Assured Guaranty's revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Roth Mkm cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.33.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,002,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,787,188.96. This represents a 31.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Francisco L. Borges sold 123,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total transaction of $9,927,225.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 176,952 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,195,089.44. This represents a 41.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 224,797 shares of company stock worth $17,999,537 in the last ninety days. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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