Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Stock Holdings Decreased by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management trimmed its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 508,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $30,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 7.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,033,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $890,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 1,036.3% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 6,943 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $841,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Essent Group by 2.1% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 40,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $260,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $746,135.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 196,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,799,930. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 17,979 shares of company stock worth $1,164,460 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT stock opened at $60.95 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $65.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $298.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ESNT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on Essent Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, DOWLING & PARTN cut shares of Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.67.

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.