TCW Group Inc. Has $1.01 Million Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

TCW Group Inc. cut its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,070 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AGO. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 893,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,882,000 after acquiring an additional 67,613 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth about $41,609,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 407,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,476,000 after purchasing an additional 4,699 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 63.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 406,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,631,000 after buying an additional 158,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 27.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,546,000 after buying an additional 58,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total transaction of $2,398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 304,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,368,509.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total transaction of $2,398,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 304,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,368,509.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 88,901 shares of company stock worth $7,793,657 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO traded up $0.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.08. The company had a trading volume of 254,970 shares, 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st.

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.