Insider Selling: 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock 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 value 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 Stock Up 1.9%

AGO stock opened at $85.17 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.01. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 40.65% and a return on equity of 7.09%. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Two investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.