Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 10,087 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,087 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.27% of Assured Guaranty worth $11,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at $68,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:AGO opened at $76.04 on Thursday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.25.

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

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 17.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AGO shares. Roth Mkm cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.33.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,264,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,926,255.95. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Francisco L. Borges sold 123,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 176,952 shares in the company, valued at $14,195,089.44. This trade represents a 41.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 224,797 shares of company stock worth $17,999,537. Corporate insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

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.