Key Points
- Director Francisco Borges sold 123,750 shares of Assured Guaranty at an average price of $80.22 for a total of $9,927,225, reducing his stake by 41.15% to 176,952 shares (valued at ~$14.2M).
- Assured Guaranty beat expectations with quarterly EPS of $2.32 (vs. $1.54 est.) and revenue of $277M (up 77.6% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.34 to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, yield 1.9%).
- The stock carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $98.50, and institutional investors own about 92.22% of the shares, including recent large stakes by Norges Bank, Millennium and others.
Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) Director Francisco Borges sold 123,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 176,952 shares in the company, valued at $14,195,089.44. This trade represents a 41.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
Assured Guaranty Price Performance
Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $81.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $74.09 and a 1-year high of $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.66 and a 200-day moving average of $85.63.
Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The company's revenue was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 14.84%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. 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 note on Thursday, March 19th. Two equities research 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.50.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Assured Guaranty
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,538,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 176.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,935,000 after acquiring an additional 233,966 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 261.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,830,000 after acquiring an additional 230,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,957,000 after acquiring an additional 182,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $112,840,000 after purchasing an additional 144,841 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Assured Guaranty
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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