Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 50,019 Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 50,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,859,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Assured Guaranty as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 535.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded up $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.74. The stock had a trading volume of 407,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,413. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $58.27 and a 1-year high of $96.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.48.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty 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.