First Eagle Investment Management LLC Invests $2.37 Million in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 26,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,367,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,463,000 after purchasing an additional 449,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,060,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position 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 worth $34,525,000 after purchasing an additional 146,107 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 112.9% during the third 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 worth $17,249,000 after purchasing an additional 115,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 112.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 174,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,872,000 after purchasing an additional 92,408 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $86.32 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.57 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.22.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly 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). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. Equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid 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 is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

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.