Edgestream Partners L.P. Sells 62,383 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Edgestream Partners L.P. cut its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 62,383 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter worth $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter worth $99,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Essent Group by 32.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,574,700.45. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 21,229 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,140 in the last 90 days. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of ESNT opened at $61.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.90. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $65.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.43.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock 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 research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note 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, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.67.

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.