Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 84,041 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 283,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 84,041 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $22,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after acquiring an additional 22,486 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,024,000 after purchasing an additional 16,235 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $553,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.33.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $75.56 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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.