Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts give Assured Guaranty a consensus rating of "Hold" (three holds, two buys) with an average 1‑year target price of $98.50.
• The company beat estimates for the quarter, reporting $2.50 EPS vs. $1.50 expected and $261M revenue vs. $208.6M expected, though revenue was down 24.3% year‑over‑year; analysts expect ~6.85 EPS for the current year.
• Assured Guaranty declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 (1.8% yield) payable May 29, while insiders sold shares overall last quarter and a major shareholder purchased 242,718 shares (a 31.94% increase in that position); institutional ownership stands at 92.22%.

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.50.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm lowered Assured Guaranty to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AGO opened at $82.45 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $83.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.67. Assured Guaranty has a 12 month low of $78.77 and a 12 month high of $92.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 0.81.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The firm had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.18 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.84%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $106,223.66. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $723,000.58. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.72 per share, for a total transaction of $5,999,988.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 1,002,718 shares in the company, valued at $24,787,188.96. This trade represents a 31.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 174,969 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,948. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 39.3% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 5,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,080,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $296,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $296,000. 92.22% of the stock is 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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