Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Price Target Lowered to $97.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 27.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AGO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. 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 report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.33.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $76.17. 18,188 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,894. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.69. Assured Guaranty has a 12 month low of $72.76 and a 12 month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. Analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PEAK6 LLC acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth about $698,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $261,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,225,000. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

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.