Amalgamated Bank Sells 2,028 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,028 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 893,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,882,000 after buying an additional 67,613 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 406,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,631,000 after purchasing an additional 158,638 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,546,000 after purchasing an additional 58,873 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 226,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,935,000 after purchasing an additional 21,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.7% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 178,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AGO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, April 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total transaction of $5,083,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,450,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,099,662.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total transaction of $5,083,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,450,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,099,662.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Laura Bieling sold 3,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $311,806.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,281,757.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 88,901 shares of company stock worth $7,793,657. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $79.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.94. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.05 and a 52 week high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.55. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 57.45%. The company had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

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.