Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Director Lorin Radtke Sells 1,219 Shares of 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 transaction, the director directly owned 8,297 shares in the company, valued at $723,000.58. This trade represents a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $85.11. 97,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 280,119. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.90. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $74.09 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.55.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Assured Guaranty’s quarterly revenue was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 13.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5,435.5% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth about $278,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 42,311 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth about $615,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.