7,302 Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Shares Sold by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,302 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $463,926,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 32.9% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 499,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,687,000 after acquiring an additional 123,672 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth about $30,108,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth about $23,025,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at about $13,439,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.36. 346,887 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 417,613. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $67.24 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $91.00 price target on Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, September 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Roth Capital upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.00.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) is a Bermuda-based financial services company that provides credit protection products through its operating insurance subsidiaries. The company’s core business is financial guaranty insurance, which generally guarantees the payment of scheduled principal and interest on debt obligations if the issuer or borrower defaults.

Assured Guaranty primarily serves the public finance and infrastructure markets. Its guarantees support municipal bonds and other public-sector debt, as well as obligations related to transportation, utilities, social infrastructure and other essential-service projects.