Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $11.34 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,087 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $11,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGO. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,840,000 after buying an additional 144,841 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,480,000 after acquiring an additional 132,351 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,929,000 after buying an additional 92,148 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $87,683,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth $51,538,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE AGO opened at $76.04 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.25. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.76 and a one year high of $92.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The business had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 224,797 shares of company stock valued at $17,999,537. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Roth Mkm cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.33.

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.