AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 13,552 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 997,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,552 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 1.96% of Assured Guaranty worth $89,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 214.0% during the 3rd 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. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 719,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,740,000 after purchasing an additional 66,487 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $250,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,367,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,664,000 after acquiring an additional 6,581 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $89.92. The company had a trading volume of 36,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,530. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.82.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $199.00 million for 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS 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 dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. 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.