Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.28), Zacks reports. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 37.34%.The business had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 30.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO traded down $7.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.42. The stock had a trading volume of 588,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,513. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.36 and a 200 day moving average of $81.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty has a 52-week low of $72.76 and a 52-week high of $92.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 17.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,096,591.98. The trade was a 20.88% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGO. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at approximately $68,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 121.1% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Roth Capital lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.67.

Key Assured Guaranty News

Here are the key news stories impacting Assured Guaranty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Assured Guaranty declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, payable September 3 to shareholders of record August 20. The dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 1.8%, providing ongoing shareholder income. Assured Guaranty dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted updated investor materials and disclosures on August 7. No specific financial change or new guidance was identified in the announcement, so the immediate stock impact appears limited. Updated investor materials and disclosures
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were $1.23 per share, below consensus estimates ranging from $1.51 to $1.66. Although EPS increased from $1.01 a year earlier, the earnings miss is likely weighing on investor sentiment. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue was $195 million, below the approximately $205 million consensus estimate and down 30.6% year over year. The revenue shortfall, combined with the EPS miss, is the primary catalyst behind the stock’s decline. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings snapshot Assured Guaranty revenue estimate miss

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.