Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Mkm lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $80.65 and its 200 day moving average is $85.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 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 business had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at $20,146,453.62. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $106,223.66. Following the sale, the director owned 8,297 shares in the company, valued at $723,000.58. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 224,969 shares of company stock valued at $18,027,948. Corporate insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,446,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 49,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,743,000 after buying an additional 30,208 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,929,000 after buying an additional 92,148 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 7.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 193,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,392,000 after acquiring an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 12.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,840,000 after acquiring an additional 144,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

About Assured Guaranty

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.