Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 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 traded.

The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. StockNews.com cut Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% in 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 last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

About Assured Guaranty

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.