Eagle Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,378 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.25% of Assured Guaranty worth $11,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,389,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 293.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,773,000 after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 63.1% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 52,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,064,000 after acquiring an additional 20,380 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $870,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth $1,691,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.4 %

AGO opened at $93.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.24. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $67.25 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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.