Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Assured Guaranty worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $740,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 47,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,754,000 after acquiring an additional 16,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $362,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $92.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.11. 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 $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

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.