Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 26,594 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 34.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,594 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $4,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 49,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,743,000 after buying an additional 30,208 shares in the last quarter. IMC Chicago LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth about $1,446,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,929,000 after buying an additional 92,148 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,840,000 after acquiring an additional 144,841 shares during the period. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 49.9% in the third quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 120,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,226,000 after acquiring an additional 40,200 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $79.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.08 and a 200-day moving average of $83.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.76. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.76 and a 12 month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The business had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.18 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Roth Mkm cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.33.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the sale, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at $691,696.24. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 174,797 shares of company stock valued at $13,936,038. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.