Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $74.14 and last traded at $74.3640, with a volume of 144933 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $74.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. 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 research note on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.01.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.45%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares in the company, valued at $102,926,255.95. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 224,969 shares of company stock valued at $18,027,948 in the last quarter. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. 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.