Strs Ohio Has $2.29 Million Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Strs Ohio trimmed its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 54.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,200 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned about 0.06% of Assured Guaranty worth $2,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 61.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after purchasing an additional 22,486 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,024,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.1% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 46,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,046,000 after buying an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 53.4% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 108,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,437,000 after buying an additional 37,727 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $83.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $74.09 and a 52-week high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.65% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 16.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,566 shares of company stock worth $153,269. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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.