Edgestream Partners L.P. Sells 7,266 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lessened its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 15.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,266 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of Assured Guaranty worth $3,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth $1,389,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 293.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,773,000 after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 63.1% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 52,674 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,064,000 after purchasing an additional 20,380 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter valued at about $870,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter valued at about $1,691,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded down $1.19 on Monday, reaching $92.09. 243,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 377,511. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 1.10. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $67.27 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the sale, 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.