Insider Selling: Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Director Sells $9,927,225.00 in Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Director Francisco Borges sold 123,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 176,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,195,089.44. This represents a 41.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $81.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $84.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.66. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The company had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 14.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.50.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 218.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 162,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,765,000 after acquiring an additional 111,498 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,828,000 after purchasing an additional 51,519 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,363,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $96,929,000 after purchasing an additional 92,148 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 144,841 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.