Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Stock Price

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its price target upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $92.00 to $105.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AGO has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $91.93 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $65.39 and a 12-month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Assured Guaranty’s quarterly revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.