Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning.
A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded 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 report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.33.
View Our Latest Research Report on AGO
Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.1%
Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The company had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 20.27%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty
In related news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth approximately $13,439,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,401,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,629,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth $337,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth $7,838,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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