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

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 360,667 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,978 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.71% of Assured Guaranty worth $32,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 214.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 16,956 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at about $250,000. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,534,000 after buying an additional 8,856 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $87.69 on Wednesday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $85.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.45. 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 $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 0.82.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $345.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.96 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

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