Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 4,176 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,176 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $14,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 2.8 %

AGO opened at $82.81 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.61 and a 200-day moving average of $79.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $58.57 and a 1-year high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 43.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AGO shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

About Assured Guaranty

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.