Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) CEO Dominic Frederico Sells 29,998 Shares

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Dominic Frederico also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 20th, Dominic Frederico sold 20,002 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.06, for a total transaction of $1,621,362.12.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $81.56 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 0.90. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $92.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 14.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.50.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,885,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,483,000 after purchasing an additional 42,311 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $131,589,000 after buying an additional 131,195 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 11.7% in 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 buying an additional 132,351 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,929,000 after buying an additional 92,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,035,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,683,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.