Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.78 EPS

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78, FiscalAI reports. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.65% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.6%

Assured Guaranty stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $86.74. 269,576 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 269,560. The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.37. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.94. Assured Guaranty has a 52-week low of $74.09 and a 52-week high of $93.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 18.86%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $65,282.22. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 10,701 shares of company stock valued at $154,990 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position 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 worth $31,935,000 after acquiring an additional 233,966 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 261.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,830,000 after acquiring an additional 230,920 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 182,004 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 720.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 150,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,527,000 after acquiring an additional 132,185 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,589,000 after buying an additional 131,195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

About Assured Guaranty

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.