Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO) Given a $40.00 Price Target by MKM Partners Analysts

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) has been given a $40.00 target price by analysts at MKM Partners in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm presently has a a “buy” rating on the stock. MKM Partners’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 48.04% from the stock’s previous close.

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.10 per share, for a total transaction of $326,300.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,199,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,108,705. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Sunday, February 28th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 19th.

Other hedge funds recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 86.2% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 3,122 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 49.3% in the first quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 18,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Finally, BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 54.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd now owns 22,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 7,813 shares during the last quarter.

Shares of Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) traded up 0.07% during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.02. 873,717 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. Assured Guaranty has a one year low of $21.79 and a one year high of $29.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion and a PE ratio of 4.26.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $245 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post $2.74 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 16th.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a holding company. The Company provides, through its operating subsidiaries, credit protection products to the United States and international public finance, including infrastructure and structured finance markets. The Company markets its financial guaranty insurance directly to issuers and underwriters of public finance and structured finance securities, as well as to investors.