Fox Run Management L.L.C. Increases Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 75.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,295 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AGO opened at $85.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $90.03 and a 200 day moving average of $87.45.

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

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. 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 1.59%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 19.94%.

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.