Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Price Target Raised to $105.00

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $92.00 to $105.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on AGO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.0 %

Assured Guaranty stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $91.96. 293,490 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 382,362. Assured Guaranty has a 12-month low of $65.39 and a 12-month high of $96.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.13 and a 200 day moving average of $79.78. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Assured Guaranty's revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 14.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.