Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Posts Earnings Results

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00, Briefing.com reports. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.64% and a net margin of 70.37%. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Assured Guaranty stock traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 67,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,106. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.41. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $65.39 and a 12-month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This 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.

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.