Piper Jaffray Reiterating Overweight On Assured Guaranty (AGO)

Piper Jaffray is reiterating its Overweight rating and $25 price target on shares of Assured Guaranty AGO after the company announced a settlement with Bank of America this morning. In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray writes, "AGO announced a settlement with Bank of America and its subsidiaries, including Countrywide, this morning in the amount of $1.1B to be paid in full by March 31, 2012, with an initial payment having been made in the amount of $850.0M on April 14, 2011. The settlement also includes a loss-sharing reinsurance agreement for 21 first lien RMBS transactions. As important to the cash settlement, the agreement provides much needed transparency around exposures and capital, extremely important ramifications as the company continues to navigate S&P's rating criteria." Shares of AGO are soaring on news of the settlement, up $2.92 to $17.09, a gain of 20.6%.