Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Strs Ohio bought a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $895,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew 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 purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 39,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 20.6% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Compass Point reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. DOWLING & PARTN lowered Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.67.

Essent Group Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $65.49 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director owned 26,252 shares in the company, valued at $1,647,050.48. The trade was a 19.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total transaction of $158,325.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,574,700.45. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,950 shares of company stock worth $931,001 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group 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.