Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.38 on December 2nd

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th.

Assured Guaranty has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Assured Guaranty has a dividend payout ratio of 21.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Assured Guaranty to earn $6.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.0%.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:AGO opened at $71.59 on Friday. Assured Guaranty has a 1 year low of $67.24 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.31. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. The company had revenue of $214.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGO. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 64.7% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 46.2% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) is a Bermuda-based financial services company that provides credit protection products through its operating insurance subsidiaries. The company’s core business is financial guaranty insurance, which generally guarantees the payment of scheduled principal and interest on debt obligations if the issuer or borrower defaults.

Assured Guaranty primarily serves the public finance and infrastructure markets. Its guarantees support municipal bonds and other public-sector debt, as well as obligations related to transportation, utilities, social infrastructure and other essential-service projects.