Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Price Target Raised to $95.00 at UBS Group

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

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AGO opened at $91.25 on Monday. Assured Guaranty has a twelve month low of $66.14 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.98.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth about $224,000. TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 6.8% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 19,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 214.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,980,000 after buying an additional 16,956 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,595,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.6% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by 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.