Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $82.69 and traded as high as $83.38. Assured Guaranty shares last traded at $82.2940, with a volume of 282,680 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.5%

The business’s fifty day moving average is $77.92 and its 200-day moving average is $82.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The business had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 17.45%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,885,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,483,000 after acquiring an additional 42,311 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,589,000 after purchasing an additional 131,195 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,480,000 after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at $51,538,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 540,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,779,000 after purchasing an additional 108,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

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.