State Street Corp Sells 6,354 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

State Street Corp trimmed its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,932,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,354 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned about 3.80% of Assured Guaranty worth $153,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at $1,389,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 293.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,773,000 after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at $870,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth $1,691,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth $1,088,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AGO opened at $90.05 on Friday. 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 $71.11 and a 12-month high of $96.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.72.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.