Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $1.97 Million Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,314 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related 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 value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded up $2.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $91.54. The company had a trading volume of 404,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 382,894. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 1.10. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $65.39 and a 12 month high of $96.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The firm's revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AGO. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.