Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Director Francisco Borges Sells 123,750 Shares

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Director Francisco Borges sold 123,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 176,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,195,089.44. This trade represents a 41.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $81.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $74.09 and a 52-week high of $92.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.63.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The firm had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.50.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 61.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 22,486 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,024,000 after acquiring an additional 16,235 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,828,000 after acquiring an additional 51,519 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,585,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

About Assured Guaranty

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.