Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Makes New Investment in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 28,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,552,000. Assured Guaranty accounts for approximately 1.6% of Decker Retirement Planning Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Assured Guaranty as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,134,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,977,000 after acquiring an additional 129,026 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,463,000 after acquiring an additional 449,310 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,796,000 after acquiring an additional 13,552 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 990,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,127,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 903,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,303,000 after acquiring an additional 97,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $87.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 712,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 336,492. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.48. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 45.58%. The firm had revenue of $345.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $257.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 16.25%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total transaction of $232,476.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $6,192,772.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,348,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,082,566.03. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 85,004 shares of company stock valued at $7,324,274. 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.