Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 8,243 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNTFree Report) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,243 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC owned about 0.21% of Essent Group worth $12,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 20.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $99,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Essent Group by 32.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Essent Group by 66.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Essent Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, DOWLING & PARTN lowered shares of Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

View Our Latest Analysis on Essent Group

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,647,050.48. This trade represents a 19.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $260,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 243,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,796,495. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,190 shares of company stock worth $1,802,316. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.2%

ESNT opened at $59.48 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.24. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $65.90. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNTGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.10%.

Essent Group Profile

(Free Report)

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT)

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