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

Key Points

• Assured Guaranty has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from five brokerages, with an average 1-year price target of about $92.33.
• The company beat first-quarter expectations, reporting $2.50 EPS versus the $1.50 estimate and $261 million in revenue versus the $208.63 million forecast, even though revenue fell year over year.
• Assured Guaranty also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share and has a 2.0% yield; insider activity was mixed, with one director selling shares while a major shareholder made a large purchase.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.3333.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Roth Mkm cut Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $74.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.76. Assured Guaranty has a 1 year low of $73.46 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $80.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.90.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.18 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.45%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the 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 owned 8,297 shares in the company, valued at $723,000.58. This trade represents a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,787,188.96. This trade represents a 31.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 226,016 shares of company stock valued at $18,105,761. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at $68,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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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