Intech Investment Management LLC Has $12.99 Million Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 149,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,471 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $12,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,036,000 after buying an additional 5,826 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at $669,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth about $5,920,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $87.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.95. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.98.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $206.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.87%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 1,882 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.64, for a total transaction of $31,316.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,281,112 shares in the company, valued at $87,877,703.68. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $2,095,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,287,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,956,525.49. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,827 shares of company stock valued at $2,385,001. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.50.

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.