Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Receives $90.33 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.3333.

A number of analysts have recently commented on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group upgraded 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. Roth Capital lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGO. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $75.58 on Friday. Assured Guaranty has a 1 year low of $72.76 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.49.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

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.