Captrust Financial Advisors Increases Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 63.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total transaction of $232,476.24. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.2%

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $86.37 on Monday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.50. 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 market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 0.82.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $345.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.25%.

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.