Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 454,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,476 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.89% of Assured Guaranty worth $40,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 100.6% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1,794.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 208.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 6.1 %

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $78.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 month high of $96.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.