Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Assured Guaranty from “hold” to “sell,” while broader analyst sentiment remains “Hold,” with two Buy and three Hold ratings and a consensus price target of $91.67.
• AGO shares opened at $75.42, down 8.7%, below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock has traded between $72.76 and $92.39 over the past year.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly EPS of $1.23 on $195 million in revenue, while recent updates highlighted misses against analyst expectations. Insiders own 5.7% of shares, and institutional investors hold 92.22%.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

AGO has been the subject of several other research reports. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.67.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 8.7%

AGO stock opened at $75.42 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $80.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.90. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. 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 company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 37.34%.The firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at $30,096,591.98. The trade was a 20.88% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,441 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.3% during the third quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Assured Guaranty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Assured Guaranty declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, payable September 3 to shareholders of record August 20. The dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 1.8%, providing ongoing shareholder income. Assured Guaranty dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted updated investor materials and disclosures on August 7. No specific financial change or new guidance was identified in the announcement, so the immediate stock impact appears limited. Updated investor materials and disclosures
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were $1.23 per share, below consensus estimates ranging from $1.51 to $1.66. Although EPS increased from $1.01 a year earlier, the earnings miss is likely weighing on investor sentiment. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue was $195 million, below the approximately $205 million consensus estimate and down 30.6% year over year. The revenue shortfall, combined with the EPS miss, is the primary catalyst behind the stock’s decline. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings snapshot Assured Guaranty revenue estimate miss

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.

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