Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Trims Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. decreased its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 72.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,260 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.'s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,794.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total value of $232,476.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,425.12. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 2.0%

AGO stock traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $84.24. The stock had a trading volume of 114,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,541. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.82. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $72.57 and a 52-week high of $96.50.

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

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 16.25%.

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.