Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Sets New 1-Year Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday, trading as low as $74.14 amid recent weakness in the shares.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were stronger than expected, with EPS of $2.50 beating estimates by $1.00 and revenue of $261 million topping forecasts, even though revenue fell 24.3% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive overall: the stock has an average Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $92.33, while recent insider selling and broad institutional ownership have also drawn attention.

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $74.14 and last traded at $74.3640, with a volume of 144933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Mkm lowered Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $80.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.81.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.18 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.45%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, Director Francisco L. Borges sold 123,750 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 176,952 shares in the company, valued at $14,195,089.44. This trade represents a 41.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 224,969 shares of company stock worth $18,027,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at $51,538,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 176.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,935,000 after buying an additional 233,966 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 261.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,830,000 after buying an additional 230,920 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,957,000 after buying an additional 182,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $112,840,000 after buying an additional 144,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

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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