BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 78.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 339,991 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.19% of Assured Guaranty worth $8,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 214.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 16,956 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 719,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,740,000 after acquiring an additional 66,487 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth $250,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth $2,367,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,664,000 after acquiring an additional 6,581 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $87.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.42. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.82. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $345.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $257.96 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 16.25%.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.