Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $89.56, but opened at $95.00. Assured Guaranty shares last traded at $92.98, with a volume of 32,508 shares.

The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AGO shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the 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 directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the 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 directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.57. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.10.

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.