Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 588 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 214.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 16,956 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 719,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,740,000 after purchasing an additional 66,487 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at $250,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 434,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,525,000 after purchasing an additional 146,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 221.8% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 45,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 31,280 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $85.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $72.57 and a 1-year high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. On average, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.94%.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.