California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 6,848 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 16.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,848 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $4,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,885,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,483,000 after buying an additional 42,311 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,589,000 after acquiring an additional 131,195 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,480,000 after acquiring an additional 132,351 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,538,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 540,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,779,000 after acquiring an additional 108,280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $75.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.76 and a one year high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 17.45%.

Trending Headlines about Assured Guaranty

Here are the key news stories impacting Assured Guaranty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Assured Guaranty declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, payable September 3 to shareholders of record August 20. The dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 1.8%, providing ongoing shareholder income. Assured Guaranty dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted updated investor materials and disclosures on August 7. No specific financial change or new guidance was identified in the announcement, so the immediate stock impact appears limited. Updated investor materials and disclosures
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were $1.23 per share, below consensus estimates ranging from $1.51 to $1.66. Although EPS increased from $1.01 a year earlier, the earnings miss is likely weighing on investor sentiment. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue was $195 million, below the approximately $205 million consensus estimate and down 30.6% year over year. The revenue shortfall, combined with the EPS miss, is the primary catalyst behind the stock’s decline. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings snapshot Assured Guaranty revenue estimate miss

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Roth Capital downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.67.

About Assured Guaranty

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.