Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Price Target Raised to $108.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $105.00 to $108.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 22.20% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AGO. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.7%

AGO stock traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.38. 11,091 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 323,886. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $74.09 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $1.03. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $206.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $2,095,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,287,803 shares in the company, valued at $107,956,525.49. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 6,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $105,760.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,282,994 shares in the company, valued at $89,282,598.60. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 41,827 shares of company stock worth $2,385,001 over the last three months. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

About Assured Guaranty

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.