Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $89.56, but opened at $95.00. Assured Guaranty shares last traded at $92.98, with a volume of 32,508 shares.

The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AGO shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.57. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.