Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 454,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,476 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $40,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 84,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,602,000 after purchasing an additional 6,578 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 198,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,824,000 after buying an additional 85,006 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 112,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,065,000 after buying an additional 46,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $78.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.98.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 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, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

About Assured Guaranty

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.