HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 113 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 100.6% in 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. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $88.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.57 and a one year high of $96.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.65.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 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.