Guaranty Ltd Assured Sells 1,650 Shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 1,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.48, for a total value of $23,892.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,274,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,375,585.36. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major 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 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 transaction 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 transaction of $1,672.80.
• On Tuesday, October 28th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 266 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.69, for a total transaction of $4,439.54.
• On Monday, October 27th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 590 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total transaction of $9,853.00.
• On Friday, October 24th, Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 1,882 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.64, for a total transaction of $31,316.48.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE AGO opened at $85.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $1.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 40.65%.The company had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.