KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 22,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 67.4% in 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 buying an additional 449,310 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,005,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,531,000 after acquiring an additional 28,026 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 9,062 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 903,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,303,000 after purchasing an additional 97,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $88.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.57 and a 52 week high of $96.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.65.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.