Cambria Investment Management L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Cambria Investment Management L.P. trimmed its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,075 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.25% of Assured Guaranty worth $9,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position 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. Prelude Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,000.58. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 11,920 shares of company stock valued at $261,214 over the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of AGO stock opened at $82.50 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.80 and a 200 day moving average of $85.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $74.09 and a 1-year high of $92.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 0.90.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 14.84%.

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.