Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $67.92 and last traded at $67.9680, with a volume of 78716 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AGO shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Roth Capital upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, September 25th. UBS Group set a $91.00 price objective on Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, September 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.00.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 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 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. Research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,096,591.98. The trade was a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.