Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Sells 186 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 100.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 1,794.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $82.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.65 and its 200 day moving average is $87.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 0.84.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.94%.

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.