State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 19,375 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its stake in Assured Guaranty by 44.4%, selling 19,375 shares and leaving it with 24,239 shares (about 0.05% of the company) valued at $2.18 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers: Director Lorin Radtke and CEO Dominic Frederico recently sold shares (1,219 and 29,998 shares respectively), and insiders sold 180,073 shares worth roughly $14.17 million over the last quarter (insiders now hold 5.7%).
• Company fundamentals remain strong: Assured Guaranty beat Q4 expectations with $2.32 EPS and $277M revenue (up 77.6% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 ($1.52 annualized, a 1.8% yield).

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,375 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned 0.05% of Assured Guaranty worth $2,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $44,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,000.58. This represents a 12.81% 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 29,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,264,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 180,073 shares of company stock worth $14,169,982. Insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AGO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of AGO stock opened at $84.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.60. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $78.77 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.31% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $205.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.84%.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company's primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.

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