Aigen Investment Management LP Buys Shares of 2,639 Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 16,956 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 719,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,740,000 after purchasing an additional 66,487 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $250,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 50.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 434,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,525,000 after buying an additional 146,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 221.8% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 45,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,609,000 after buying an additional 31,280 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE AGO opened at $85.43 on Monday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.06. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGO. UBS Group upped their target price on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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.