Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 9,751 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 169.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,751 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 9,493.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 112,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,507,000 after acquiring an additional 111,552 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 369,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,313,000 after acquiring an additional 19,271 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 22.6% during the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 55,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10,289 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 330.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT opened at $62.16 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.97. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $65.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.88.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 56.36%.The firm had revenue of $319.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.31 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $746,135.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 196,922 shares in the company, valued at $12,799,930. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,647,050.48. This trade represents a 19.73% 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. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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 note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.