D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $10.65 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,018 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.23% of Assured Guaranty worth $10,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 100.6% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total value of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:AGO opened at $86.19 on Thursday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 month high of $96.50. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.44.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The company had revenue of $345.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $257.96 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.25%.

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.