Clearbridge Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,180 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.37% of Assured Guaranty worth $16,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 198,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,824,000 after acquiring an additional 85,006 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 112,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,065,000 after purchasing an additional 46,421 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth about $150,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,447,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 155,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,999,000 after buying an additional 14,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $87.68 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.02. 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 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $199.00 million for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 19.94%.

About Assured Guaranty

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.