Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $105.00 to $108.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE AGO traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $88.38. The company had a trading volume of 11,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,886. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.98. Assured Guaranty has a 52 week low of $74.09 and a 52 week high of $96.50. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.17 and its 200-day moving average is $83.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $206.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 1,882 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.64, for a total transaction of $31,316.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,281,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,877,703.68. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $2,095,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,287,803 shares in the company, valued at $107,956,525.49. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,827 shares of company stock worth $2,385,001. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth $30,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Assured Guaranty

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.