Dominic Frederico Sells 29,998 Shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,264,295 shares in the company, valued at $102,926,255.95. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Dominic Frederico also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 20th, Dominic Frederico sold 20,002 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.06, for a total transaction of $1,621,362.12.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $81.47 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $85.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.69. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $74.09 and a 52 week high of $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.