Allianz Asset Management GmbH Cuts Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lowered its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 213,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 178,195 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.45% of Assured Guaranty worth $18,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $65,282.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 10,803 shares of company stock valued at $156,663 in the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AGO stock opened at $87.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $94.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.15.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $1.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 40.65%.The firm had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

About Assured Guaranty

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.