Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Stake Cut by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 81.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,696 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 214.0% during the third 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. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at $250,000. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $243,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 8,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Assured Guaranty news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total value of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,181,425.12. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $86.54 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $85.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.57 and a one year high of $96.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 0.82.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $345.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.96 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 16.25%.

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.

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