Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 223 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AGO. 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 valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 25,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at $211,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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 Stock Up 2.6 %

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $86.32 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $72.57 and a 1-year high of $96.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.28.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. Equities research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.94%.

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.