Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Stock Has Average Target Price of $91.00

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.00.

Several research firms have weighed in on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. UBS Group set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, September 25th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.8% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $69.11 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.09 and a 200-day moving average of $78.03. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $67.24 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 for the quarter. The firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides financial guarantees and related insurance services through its subsidiaries. The company helps protect investors and lenders from losses arising from defaults on debt obligations, with a primary focus on public finance and structured finance markets.

Its public finance business provides guarantees for municipal bonds and other obligations issued to fund essential infrastructure and public services, including transportation, utilities, healthcare and education.