Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.07 EPS

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $92.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 232,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,564. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.41. Assured Guaranty has a one year low of $72.57 and a one year high of $96.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 10.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

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.