Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Sold by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management decreased its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 508,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 0.50% of Essent Group worth $30,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 43,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,249 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 20,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in Essent Group by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,601 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 1,421.8% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 54,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 50,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 26,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Compass Point reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. DOWLING & PARTN cut shares of Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

Insider Activity

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total transaction of $158,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,574,700.45. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $746,135.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 196,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,799,930. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 17,979 shares of company stock valued at $1,164,460 in the last 90 days. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $60.95 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.16. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.91. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The company had revenue of $298.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.05%.

About Essent Group

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.