Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.28 EPS

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.28), Zacks reports. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The business’s revenue was down 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.1%

Assured Guaranty stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $82.63. 289,314 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 311,181. Assured Guaranty has a 52-week low of $72.76 and a 52-week high of $92.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.95.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 17.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake 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 valued at $31,935,000 after purchasing an additional 233,966 shares in 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 valued at $12,830,000 after purchasing an additional 230,920 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $41,957,000 after buying an additional 182,004 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 720.9% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 150,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,527,000 after buying an additional 132,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,589,000 after buying an additional 131,195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

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.