Farther Finance Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,532 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $31,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Essent Group by 4.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,399,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,638,000 after purchasing an additional 230,553 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1,272.6% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 970,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,044,000 after acquiring an additional 900,229 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 64.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 848,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,581,000 after purchasing an additional 331,535 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $41,084,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 670.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 663,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,288,000 after purchasing an additional 577,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.5%

ESNT opened at $60.03 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $65.90. The company has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.88. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.14.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS 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 business had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday. DOWLING & PARTN lowered Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.67.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,574,700.45. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 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 value of $260,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 243,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,796,495. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,190 shares of company stock worth $1,802,316. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.