Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $7.60 Million Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,578 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $7,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,463,000 after acquiring an additional 449,310 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,005,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,531,000 after purchasing an additional 28,026 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 990,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,127,000 after purchasing an additional 9,062 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 903,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,303,000 after purchasing an additional 97,091 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $80.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.93. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. 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 12-month low of $72.57 and a 12-month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The firm had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.56 million. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. 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.