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

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.33.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:AGO opened at $75.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.49.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.