Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 88.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 251,898 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Assured Guaranty worth $2,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 25,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.5% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded up $1.29 on Friday, reaching $93.09. The company's 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.25. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $67.25 and a 52-week high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AGO shares. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report 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 report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.