Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 634 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $30,000. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 59.8% during the third quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 540 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth about $164,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.51% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $46.92 on Monday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $67.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.58 and a 200 day moving average of $58.28.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 8th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 7th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is presently 57.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, November 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a "sell" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.50.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of credit protection products to the U.S. and international public finance, and structured finance markets through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The Insurance segment includes the company's domestic and foreign insurance subsidiaries and their wholly-owned subsidiaries that provide credit protection products to the U.S.

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