Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $92.28 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $90.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AGO. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.