Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Given New $103.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its target price cut by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $108.00 to $103.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.69% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.30. 101,757 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 284,558. Assured Guaranty has a one year low of $74.09 and a one year high of $92.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 0.90.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.31% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.58. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 11,920 shares of company stock worth $261,214 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.