Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group raised 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 dropped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $75.42 on Friday. Assured Guaranty has a 52-week low of $72.76 and a 52-week high of $92.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. Sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 61.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 22,486 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,024,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Assured Guaranty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Assured Guaranty declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, payable September 3 to shareholders of record August 20. The dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 1.8%, providing ongoing shareholder income. Assured Guaranty dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted updated investor materials and disclosures on August 7. No specific financial change or new guidance was identified in the announcement, so the immediate stock impact appears limited. Updated investor materials and disclosures
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were $1.23 per share, below consensus estimates ranging from $1.51 to $1.66. Although EPS increased from $1.01 a year earlier, the earnings miss is likely weighing on investor sentiment. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue was $195 million, below the approximately $205 million consensus estimate and down 30.6% year over year. The revenue shortfall, combined with the EPS miss, is the primary catalyst behind the stock’s decline. Assured Guaranty Q2 earnings snapshot Assured Guaranty revenue estimate miss

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.