Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Given New $95.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $87.00 to $95.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AGO has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AGO opened at $91.93 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty has a twelve month low of $65.39 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.10.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the first quarter worth $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $38,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.