Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.38
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemAssured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO – Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th.
Assured Guaranty has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Assured Guaranty has a dividend payout ratio of 21.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:AGO traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $80.80. The stock had a trading volume of 360,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,608. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $78.77 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39.
Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.31% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty
In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares in the company, valued at $102,926,255.95. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,297 shares in the company, valued at $723,000.58. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 174,969 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,948 in the last quarter. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,538,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 176.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,935,000 after purchasing an additional 233,966 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 261.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,830,000 after purchasing an additional 230,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 182,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,840,000 after purchasing an additional 144,841 shares during the period. 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.