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

Key Points

• Assured Guaranty has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from five analysts, with three buy ratings and two holds. The average 12-month price target is about $91.67.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: UBS upgraded the stock to buy, while Roth Capital downgraded it to neutral; other firms adjusted targets or ratings as well. This shows ongoing but divided optimism around the shares.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.50 EPS versus $1.50 expected, and revenue of $261 million versus $208.63 million estimated. Assured Guaranty also paid a $0.38 quarterly dividend, implying a 1.8% annualized yield.

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $91.6667.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 242,718 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.72 per share, for a total transaction of $5,999,988.96. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,787,188.96. This represents a 31.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,307 shares of the company's stock, valued at $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $84.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $78.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The firm had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.18 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.45%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.