Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 124 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.6% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.8 %

AGO opened at $86.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.37. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The firm had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.56 million. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 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.