Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,610,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 175,307 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.92% of Assured Guaranty worth $494,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,141,000. Gendell Jeffrey L acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,001,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,035,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,609,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 226,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,935,000 after purchasing an additional 21,025 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $76.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.35. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $53.14 and a 12-month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.78 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 57.45%. The company’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total value of $2,398,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,368,509.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,368,509.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.12, for a total value of $3,124,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,410,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,213,570.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,901 shares of company stock worth $5,834,807 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

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.