Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 23,598 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,212,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,598 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.08% of Assured Guaranty worth $324,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter worth $46,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 55.7% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 24.3% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of Assured Guaranty 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $80.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.12. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $58.27 and a twelve month high of $96.60.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.58%.

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.