Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Bought by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 70.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,421 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.22% of Assured Guaranty worth $10,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,447,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 155,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,999,000 after acquiring an additional 14,565 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,799,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,281,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $78.96 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.98.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.34 dividend. 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 1.72%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend 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.