Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.28 EPS

Key Points

• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly EPS of $1.23, missing the $1.51 analyst consensus by $0.28. Revenue declined 30.6% year over year, while net margin stood at 40.45%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equivalent to $1.52 annually and a 1.8% yield, with a 17.45% payout ratio.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with the stock carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and a $91.67 target price; UBS upgraded the shares to “Buy,” while other firms maintained neutral or hold views.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.28), Zacks reports. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $82.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 289,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,181. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $80.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.95. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 17.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at $68,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Roth Capital lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.67.

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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