Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 16,268 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 488,651 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,268 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.96% of Assured Guaranty worth $41,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.7% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group upped 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock traded down $3.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.77. 307,714 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 372,891. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $88.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.98. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $71.88 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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.