Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Price Target to $75.00

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.74% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AGO traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $65.94. 11,705 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,952. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.72 and a 200 day moving average of $58.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Assured Guaranty has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $67.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,977 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total value of $1,832,494.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,371,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,810,208.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total value of $1,832,494.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,371,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,810,208.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Bailenson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $583,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 296,936 shares in the company, valued at $17,320,276.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,977 shares of company stock valued at $2,987,694 over the last quarter. 3.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGO. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,158,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,035,000 after acquiring an additional 108,726 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,928,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $504,714,000 after acquiring an additional 410,594 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,388,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,631,000 after purchasing an additional 23,843 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,298,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,287,000 after purchasing an additional 83,241 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 826,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,119,000 after buying an additional 13,713 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Insurance and Asset Management. It offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.