Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $884,000.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 214.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 16,956 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 719,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,740,000 after buying an additional 66,487 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth about $2,367,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,664,000 after purchasing an additional 6,581 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,060,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.2%
Shares of AGO stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.59. 356,223 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 346,506. The company's 50-day moving average price is $85.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.37. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 month high of $96.50.
Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. 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 posted $1.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total transaction of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,181,425.12. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $6,192,772.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,348,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,082,566.03. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,004 shares of company stock valued at $7,324,274 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.
Assured Guaranty Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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