Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners lowered its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 672,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,163 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 1.17% of Assured Guaranty worth $51,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 406,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,631,000 after purchasing an additional 158,638 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 893,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,882,000 after purchasing an additional 67,613 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,546,000 after purchasing an additional 58,873 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth $2,039,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth $2,035,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total transaction of $2,398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 304,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,368,509.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total value of $5,083,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,450,824 shares in the company, valued at $134,099,662.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total value of $2,398,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at $24,368,509.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 88,901 shares of company stock valued at $7,793,657. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.43. The stock had a trading volume of 302,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,298. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.05 and a 12 month high of $96.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.18.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.55. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 57.45%. The company had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty's revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 9.58%.

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.