Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Stock Holdings Increased by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Essent Group by 330.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Essent Group by 20.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in Essent Group by 102.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 3,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $233,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 247,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,315,426. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,252 shares in the company, valued at $1,647,050.48. This represents a 19.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,450 shares of company stock worth $772,676 in the last 90 days. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.3%

ESNT opened at $62.49 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.33. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.86.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Compass Point reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. DOWLING & PARTN lowered shares of Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.67.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.