Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,583 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 155.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 22.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 162,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,949,000 after purchasing an additional 30,283 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth about $740,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.6% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 47,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 16,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:AGO opened at $89.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.57 and a one year high of $96.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.