Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGOFree Report) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,041 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at about $227,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3.1% during the first quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 169,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,503,000 after acquiring an additional 5,049 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 72.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 145,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,305,000 after acquiring an additional 61,050 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 26.2% in the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 104,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,250,000 after purchasing an additional 21,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 16,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 5,121 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, CFO Robert Bailenson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $583,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 296,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,320,276.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Assured Guaranty news, CFO Robert Bailenson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $583,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 296,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,320,276.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total transaction of $1,832,494.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,371,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,810,208.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,977 shares of company stock valued at $2,987,694. Insiders own 3.82% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $60.32 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $67.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.10.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGOGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.54). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $206.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.20 million. Equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

View Our Latest Analysis on AGO

Assured Guaranty Profile

(Free Report)

Assured Guaranty Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Insurance and Asset Management. It offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO)

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