Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,635,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,857 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.04% of Assured Guaranty worth $597,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,463,000 after purchasing an additional 449,310 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,005,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,531,000 after acquiring an additional 28,026 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 990,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,127,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 903,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,303,000 after purchasing an additional 97,091 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $88.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 month high of $96.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.97.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

About Assured Guaranty

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.