VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Has $2.83 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 138.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 31,450 shares worth about $2.83 million.
• Assured Guaranty reported Q1 earnings of $2.50 per share, beating analyst estimates, while revenue came in at $261 million, above expectations but down 24.3% from a year earlier.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share and received mixed analyst action, with Roth Mkm downgrading the stock to Neutral and the consensus rating currently sitting at Hold.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 138.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,250 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned about 0.07% of Assured Guaranty worth $2,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 476.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 772 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $68,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares in the company, valued at $24,787,188.96. The trade was a 31.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $106,223.66. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $723,000.58. This trade represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 224,969 shares of company stock worth $18,027,948. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:AGO opened at $76.08 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.18 and a twelve month high of $92.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.47. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.81.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The firm had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. The business's revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 17.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Roth Mkm cut Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.33.

About Assured Guaranty

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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