Diametric Capital LP Grows Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Diametric Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Diametric Capital LP’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 84,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,602,000 after buying an additional 6,578 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 198,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,824,000 after acquiring an additional 85,006 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 112,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,065,000 after acquiring an additional 46,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at $150,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $88.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.57 and a 12 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 EPS 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 company had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. Equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 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.