Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Purchased by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 75.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 198,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,006 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $17,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AGO. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 112.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 216,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,249,000 after purchasing an additional 115,012 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $281,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 247.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 13,422 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 80.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 31,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,491,000 after acquiring an additional 11,940 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $78.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 6.14 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $199.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.