Yukiko Omura Sells 3,599 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.7 %

AGO stock opened at $79.00 on Wednesday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $58.27 and a one year high of $96.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $78.64 and its 200 day moving average is $79.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AGO shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

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.