Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,011,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 141,932 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 6.71% of Assured Guaranty worth $245,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 22,486 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,024,000 after acquiring an additional 16,235 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth about $553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO opened at $84.41 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.76 and a twelve month high of $92.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $78.84 and its 200-day moving average is $82.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The company had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 17.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.67.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.