VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Has $1.12 Million Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al decreased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,600 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 36.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 34.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at about $613,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth about $430,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 6,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $105,760.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,282,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,282,598.60. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 16,929 shares of company stock valued at $290,924 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $88.72 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.93.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.65% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.87%.

Assured Guaranty 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.