California State Teachers Retirement System Has $4.04 Million Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,848 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.11% of Assured Guaranty worth $4,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 126.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 499,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,687,000 after purchasing an additional 123,672 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 170.4% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 10,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 6,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $204,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 8.7%

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $75.42 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.36 and its 200-day moving average is $81.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.07%. Equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AGO. Roth Capital downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

More Assured Guaranty News

Here are the key news stories impacting Assured Guaranty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Assured Guaranty declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, payable September 3 to shareholders of record August 20. The dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 1.8%, providing ongoing shareholder income. Assured Guaranty dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted updated investor materials and disclosures on August 7. No specific financial change or new guidance was identified in the announcement, so the immediate stock impact appears limited. Updated investor materials and disclosures
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were $1.23 per share, below consensus estimates ranging from $1.51 to $1.66. Although EPS increased from $1.01 a year earlier, the earnings miss is likely weighing on investor sentiment. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue was $195 million, below the approximately $205 million consensus estimate and down 30.6% year over year. The revenue shortfall, combined with the EPS miss, is the primary catalyst behind the stock’s decline. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings snapshot Assured Guaranty revenue estimate miss

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.