Benzinga | Nov 16, 2020 10:14AM EST

Ex-Dividend Date Insight: Assured Guaranty

On November 2, 2020, Assured Guaranty (NYSE: AGO) announced shareholders can expect to receive a dividend payable on December 2, 2020. The stock will then go ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. Assured Guaranty, whose current dividend payout is $0.2, has an ex-dividend date set at November 17, 2020. The payout equates to a dividend yield of 3.13% at current price levels.

What Is An Ex-Dividend Date?

An ex-dividend date signals when a company's shares cease to trade with its current dividend payout. There is a small intermission period before the company announces a new dividend. Usually, a company's ex-dividend date falls one business day before its record date. Investors should keep this in mind when purchasing stocks because buying them on or after ex-dividend dates does not qualify them to receive the declared payment. Newly declared dividends go to shareholders who have owned that stock before the ex-dividend date. Typically, companies will announce and implement new dividend yields on a quarterly basis.

Assured Guaranty's Dividend History

Over the past year, Assured Guaranty has seen its dividend payouts and yields climb upward overall. Last year (November 19, 2019), the company's payout sat at $0.18, which has since increased by $0.02. Assured Guaranty's dividend yield last year was 1.51%, which has since grown by 1.62%.

Companies use dividend yields in different strategic ways. Some companies may opt to not give yields altogether to reinvest in themselves. Other companies may opt to increase or decrease their yield amounts to control how their shares circulate throughout the stock market.

Click here to find details on Assured Guaranty's previous dividends.