Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Stake Reduced by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC lessened its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 128 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $91.77 on Monday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.93. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.12.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.