Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.78 EPS

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 40.65%.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $86.74. 269,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 269,560. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.37. Assured Guaranty has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $93.12. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.94.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 18.86%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $65,282.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,701 shares of company stock worth $154,990. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 176.3% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,935,000 after buying an additional 233,966 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 261.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,830,000 after acquiring an additional 230,920 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in 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 during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 720.9% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 150,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,527,000 after acquiring an additional 132,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,589,000 after purchasing an additional 131,195 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

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.