Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 832 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $82.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.88. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $73.89 and a 1 year high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.56). The company had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group cut Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $6,192,772.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,348,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,082,566.03. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.