Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Stock Price

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $108.00 to $103.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 27.43% from the company’s current price.

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

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $80.83 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.70. Assured Guaranty has a 1 year low of $74.09 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,000.58. This trade represents a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of Assured Guaranty 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 transaction, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,920 shares of company stock valued at $261,214 in the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. 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 valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

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.