Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,026 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.'s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 540 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 10,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Brinker Capital Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 9,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AGO. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.3 %

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $53.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68 and a beta of 1.10. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $67.13.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 17.15% and a return on equity of 4.88%. The company had revenue of $292.00 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 7th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 57.73%.

About Assured Guaranty

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Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of credit protection products to the U.S. and international public finance, and structured finance markets through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The Insurance segment includes the company's domestic and foreign insurance subsidiaries and their wholly-owned subsidiaries that provide credit protection products to the U.S.

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