River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 67.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 449,310 shares during the quarter. Assured Guaranty comprises approximately 1.3% of River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 2.19% of Assured Guaranty worth $100,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Assured Guaranty Trading Up 2.6 %
Shares of NYSE:AGO traded up $2.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $86.32. 231,660 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 343,651. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $90.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.10. 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 fifty-two week low of $72.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.11.
Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.94%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AGO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.
Read Our Latest Research Report on AGO
About Assured Guaranty
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Free Report)
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.
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