Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 6,978 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 360,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,978 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $32,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $87.69 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.45. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $345.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $257.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 16.25%.

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.