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

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $2,442,137.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,264,295 shares in the company, valued at $102,926,255.95. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 value of $1,621,362.12.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $81.61 on Thursday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $74.09 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $85.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two 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 a consensus target price of $98.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 2.3% during the fourth 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 increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,589,000 after purchasing an additional 131,195 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 11.7% in the fourth 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 stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.