Farther Finance Advisors LLC Purchases 435 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 28.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth $1,305,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,036,000 after purchasing an additional 5,826 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 70,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,222,000 after buying an additional 20,779 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at $624,000. Finally, Invst LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at $669,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $83.94 on Thursday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $74.09 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.56). Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The firm had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $2,095,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,287,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,956,525.49. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total value of $3,260,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 291,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.