Reinhart Partners LLC. Sells 8,051 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Reinhart Partners LLC. reduced its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,130,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,051 shares during the period. Assured Guaranty makes up about 3.1% of Reinhart Partners LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Reinhart Partners LLC.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $95,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 58.3% in 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 buying an additional 660,009 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,052,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,708,000 after acquiring an additional 40,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,606,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 60.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,957,000 after acquiring an additional 182,004 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 419,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,516,000 after purchasing an additional 40,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total transaction of $55,671.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,276,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,668,195.84. This represents a 0.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,437 shares of company stock worth $129,237. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $84.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $74.09 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.04.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.65% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AGO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 shares of Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

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.