Allianz Asset Management GmbH Acquires 66,487 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 719,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,487 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 1.41% of Assured Guaranty worth $64,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 214.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 16,956 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $250,000. VELA Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 29.3% in the third quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 30,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 6,865 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings 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 valued at $34,525,000 after acquiring an additional 146,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 96.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 81,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 40,085 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $89.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.06. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.60. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.