Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. 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 report on Monday, May 18th. Roth Capital cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.67.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $76.07 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The business had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake 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 period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.