Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires 1,128 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 252,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Assured Guaranty worth $18,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at $174,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at $211,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total transaction of $5,083,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,450,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,099,662.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 3,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $311,806.93. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 16,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,281,757.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total value of $5,083,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,450,824 shares in the company, valued at $134,099,662.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 88,901 shares of company stock valued at $7,793,657 over the last three months. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AGO traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $76.08. 254,970 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 431,448. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.06 and a 52 week high of $96.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $81.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.67. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.55. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 57.45%. The firm had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

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.