Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) CEO Dominic Frederico sold 20,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.06, for a total value of $1,621,362.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,294,293 shares in the company, valued at $104,915,390.58. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.
Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.8%
NYSE:AGO opened at $81.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 0.90. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $92.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $85.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.75. 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 (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $277.00 million for 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 firm's revenue was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.84%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have commented on AGO. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.50.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AGO
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Assured Guaranty Company Profile
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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.
Further Reading
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