Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $71.96 and last traded at $71.9160, with a volume of 8105 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AGO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. UBS Group set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.33.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 1.7%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.01 and a 200-day moving average of $79.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%.The business had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) is a Bermuda-based financial services company that provides financial guarantees and related credit enhancement products. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps support the repayment of debt issued by public-sector entities, infrastructure projects and other borrowers.

The company’s principal business is financial guaranty insurance, which generally protects investors against scheduled principal and interest payment defaults on insured obligations.