Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Increases Dividend to $0.38 Per Share

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.38 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a 11.8% increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Assured Guaranty has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 7 years. Assured Guaranty has a dividend payout ratio of 19.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Assured Guaranty to earn $6.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE AGO traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.42. 213,978 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 271,846. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $93.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.34.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.