Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,582 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.08% of Assured Guaranty worth $3,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AGO. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 503,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,255,000 after acquiring an additional 10,564 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 306,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,393,000 after acquiring an additional 18,024 shares during the period. Finally, Brinker Capital Investments LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 9,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. 92.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 5th. TheStreet lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 13th.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.31). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 7.00%.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 17th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 16th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is presently 23.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 86,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.21, for a total value of $4,920,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,278,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $73,145,330.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Assured Guaranty Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Insurance and Asset Management. It offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.

See Also

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Assured Guaranty (AGO)
• Could Snap Stock Rebound As Management Restructures?
• MarketBeat: Week in Review 8/29 – 9/2
• Hormel Looks Cheap At These Levels
• Lululemon Set To Soar Into September
• Could Nike Stock be Oversold, but Still Overvalued?

Receive News & Ratings for Assured Guaranty Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Assured Guaranty and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.