New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 471 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 471 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at about $212,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 49,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,486,000 after purchasing an additional 20,501 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO opened at $89.83 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.57 and a 12-month high of $96.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.06.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AGO. 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 report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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.

Assured Guaranty 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.