Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 6,578 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,578 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.17% of Assured Guaranty worth $7,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth about $50,447,000. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $100,463,000 after acquiring an additional 449,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,060,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 806,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,904,000 after purchasing an additional 254,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 236.5% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 168,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,134,000 after purchasing an additional 118,170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO stock traded up $0.88 on Thursday, hitting $83.63. 27,298 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 353,851. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.57 and a 52 week high of $96.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.84.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 19.94%.

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.