Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 37,378 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 37,378 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Assured Guaranty worth $11,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Assured Guaranty stock traded up $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $93.09. The stock had a trading volume of 257,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,928. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock's 50 day moving average is $84.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.25. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $67.25 and a 1 year high of $96.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $202.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

About Assured Guaranty

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.