Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" to a "hold," while the stock's consensus rating remains a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $98.50 (two buys, two holds among analysts).
• Assured Guaranty beat expectations last quarter, reporting $2.32 EPS vs. $1.54 expected and $277M revenue vs. $205.83M expected, with revenue up 77.6% year-over-year and a 45.31% net margin.
• Insider activity was notable: major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 242,718 shares (a ~31.94% increase in its stake) while CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares; insiders own 5.70% of the company and institutions hold 92.22%.

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

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AGO. 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 report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of AGO stock opened at $80.80 on Friday. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $78.77 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.31% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm's revenue was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the acquisition, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $2,442,137.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 174,969 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,948 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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