Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,005,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,531,000 after purchasing an additional 28,026 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 981,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,020,000 after buying an additional 114,308 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,670,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 719,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,740,000 after buying an additional 66,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 434,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,525,000 after acquiring an additional 146,107 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO opened at $85.43 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $90.82 and a 200 day moving average of $87.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $72.57 and a 52-week high of $96.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business 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 an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

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.