Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $1.03 EPS

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $1.03, Zacks reports. 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.2%

Assured Guaranty stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $81.72. The stock had a trading volume of 421,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,244. Assured Guaranty has a 52 week low of $74.09 and a 52 week high of $96.50. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.92.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 6,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $105,760.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,282,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,282,598.60. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $2,095,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,287,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,956,525.49. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 81,827 shares of company stock worth $5,645,401 in the last 90 days. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $553,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.