Geode Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 822,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,909 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.62% of Assured Guaranty worth $65,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. River Road Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $53,026,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 82.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 662,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,101,000 after purchasing an additional 299,658 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 678,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,322,000 after purchasing an additional 184,621 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 50.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 434,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,525,000 after purchasing an additional 146,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 112.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 216,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,249,000 after purchasing an additional 115,012 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:AGO opened at $87.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.48 and a 200-day moving average of $82.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.49 and a 52 week high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. Analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.63%.

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.