Intech Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 79.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 109,053 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during 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. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AGO shares. 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 research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded 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. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 224,797 shares of company stock worth $17,999,537 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO opened at $74.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.90. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $73.27 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 0.76.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The firm had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.45%.

About Assured Guaranty

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.