Public Sector Pension Investment Board Sells 8,900 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 104,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,900 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $8,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $93.28 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.86 and its 200-day moving average is $80.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.10. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $67.25 and a 52 week high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AGO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

About Assured Guaranty

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.