Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Separately, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $91.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.61 and a 200-day moving average of $79.57. Assured Guaranty has a twelve month low of $65.39 and a twelve month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. Assured Guaranty’s quarterly revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $38,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second 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.