Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.38 on March 20th

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 0.38 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a 11.8% increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Assured Guaranty has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 7 years. Assured Guaranty has a dividend payout ratio of 19.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Assured Guaranty to earn $6.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of AGO opened at $88.42 on Friday. Assured Guaranty has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $93.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $65,282.22. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,701 shares of company stock worth $154,990. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 58.3% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,791,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,549,000 after purchasing an additional 660,009 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,589,000 after buying an additional 131,195 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,480,000 after buying an additional 132,351 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,929,000 after buying an additional 92,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,035,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,683,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.