Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Shares Break Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)’s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.21 and traded as high as $72.13. Assured Guaranty shares last traded at $71.92, with a volume of 358,937 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Roth Capital upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, September 25th. UBS Group set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.00.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 2.0%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.21 and a 200 day moving average of $78.97. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 306.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) is a Bermuda-based financial services company that provides credit protection products through its operating insurance subsidiaries. The company’s core business is financial guaranty insurance, which generally guarantees the payment of scheduled principal and interest on debt obligations if the issuer or borrower defaults.

Assured Guaranty primarily serves the public finance and infrastructure markets. Its guarantees support municipal bonds and other public-sector debt, as well as obligations related to transportation, utilities, social infrastructure and other essential-service projects.