Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Receives $91.67 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.6667.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Roth Capital downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $85.31 on Wednesday. Assured Guaranty has a 1-year low of $72.76 and a 1-year high of $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.39 and a 200 day moving average of $82.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.