Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday.

AGO has been the topic of several other reports. 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 report on Thursday. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.9 %

AGO stock opened at $86.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.90. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.10. Assured Guaranty has a twelve month low of $59.01 and a twelve month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.