Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Bought by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $4,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $182,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AGO. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $80.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.24 and a 1 year high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.55. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 57.45%. The business had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.58%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total value of $2,398,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at $24,368,509.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total value of $2,398,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at $24,368,509.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Laura Bieling sold 3,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total value of $311,806.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,036 shares in the company, valued at $1,281,757.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 73,901 shares of company stock worth $5,834,807. 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.