Forum Financial Management LP Makes New Investment in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1,794.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $84.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.84. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.05. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) 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 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 company had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Assured Guaranty’s 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.