Douglas J. Pauls Sells 3,000 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,624,467. This trade represents a 9.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $58.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.33. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.34. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $317.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,364,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,272.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 970,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,044,000 after purchasing an additional 900,229 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth $41,084,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,343,000 after purchasing an additional 700,730 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter worth $34,060,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.