Lorin Radtke Sells 1,219 Shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,000.58. This trade represents a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $85.44 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $92.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.90.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.31% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,885,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,483,000 after purchasing an additional 42,311 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,589,000 after purchasing an additional 131,195 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,480,000 after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,929,000 after purchasing an additional 92,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.1% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,035,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,683,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.