Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. cut its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 48.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,564 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,296 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,133,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $85.95. The company had a trading volume of 328,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,665. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.57 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $85.44 and a 200-day moving average of $88.51.

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

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty 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.