Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Holdings Increased by Martingale Asset Management L P

Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 94,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $6,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 38.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,542,000 after acquiring an additional 49,393 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,973,000 after acquiring an additional 445,853 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 147.5% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 20,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $605,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE ESNT opened at $57.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.51. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $47.56 and a 12-month high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

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.