Mackenzie Financial Corp Trims Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,145 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.32% of Assured Guaranty worth $13,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 275.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 107,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,829,000 after purchasing an additional 15,838 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at $203,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 27.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 35.8% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 20,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after buying an additional 5,388 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total transaction of $5,083,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,450,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,099,662.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AGO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AGO stock opened at $76.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.12. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $49.84 and a 52-week high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $4.57. The firm had revenue of $233.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.15 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 53.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 10.00%.

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.