Insider Selling: Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) CEO Sells $2,442,137.18 in Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $2,442,137.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Dominic Frederico also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 20th, Dominic Frederico sold 20,002 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.06, for a total value of $1,621,362.12.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE AGO opened at $79.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The company had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 61.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,198,000 after purchasing an additional 22,486 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% during the first 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 valued at $21,024,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth $277,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 43.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,828,000 after buying an additional 51,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.