Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Major Shareholder Sells $65,282.22 in Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Guaranty Ltd Assured also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 23rd, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 305 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.29, for a total transaction of $4,358.45.
• On Wednesday, January 14th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 1,650 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.48, for a total transaction of $23,892.00.
• On Tuesday, January 13th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 165 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total value of $2,392.50.
• On Monday, January 12th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,782 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total value of $55,671.04.
• On Monday, November 17th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 102 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $1,672.80.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded down $0.87 on Tuesday, hitting $83.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 207,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 291,845. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.02. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $74.09 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 40.65%.Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AGO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 58.3% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,791,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,549,000 after purchasing an additional 660,009 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 12.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,840,000 after buying an additional 144,841 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 8.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,929,000 after buying an additional 92,148 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,035,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,683,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 540,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,779,000 after buying an additional 108,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.