Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the first quarter worth $30,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 106.0% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 28.7% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.8 %

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $78.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.12. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $49.84 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $86.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.58.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $4.57. The business had revenue of $233.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.15 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 53.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 10.00%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total transaction of $5,083,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,450,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,099,662.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Assured Guaranty 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.