Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Announces $0.38 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• $0.38 quarterly dividend declared, payable May 29 to shareholders of record on May 15, implying a 1.9% yield and $1.52 annualized with a payout ratio around 21%, and the company has raised its dividend for seven consecutive years.
• Assured Guaranty beat estimates with $2.32 EPS (vs. $1.54 est.) and $277M revenue (vs. $205.8M est.), revenue up 77.6% year-over-year, and analysts expect continued strong earnings that support future dividend coverage.
• Insider moves were mixed: major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 242,718 shares (~$6.0M), boosting its stake 31.9%, while the CEO sold ~30,000 shares and insiders net sold 174,969 shares last quarter; institutional investors hold about 92.22% of the stock.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.38 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th.

Assured Guaranty has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Assured Guaranty has a payout ratio of 21.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Assured Guaranty to earn $7.65 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 19.9%.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded down $1.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.80. 360,491 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,608. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $78.77 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.57.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The company had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,787,188.96. This trade represents a 31.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 174,969 shares of company stock worth $14,096,948 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,885,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $169,483,000 after acquiring an additional 42,311 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $131,589,000 after purchasing an additional 131,195 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,480,000 after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,929,000 after purchasing an additional 92,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,035,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,683,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company's primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.

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