Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 696 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 696 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $4,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 24.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 535.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’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 value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $79.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.46. The company has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $58.27 and a 52-week high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. The business’s revenue was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

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.