Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Purchases 376 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 233 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO stock opened at $87.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.54. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results 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). Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders 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 1.55%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.57%.

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.