Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Short Interest Update

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 917,600 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the May 31st total of 825,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 478,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,112 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $60,678,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $709,229,000 after buying an additional 440,385 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,097,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,326,000 after acquiring an additional 258,246 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 650,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,295,000 after acquiring an additional 154,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.90. 174,546 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 511,328. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $44.96 and a 1-year high of $59.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.85.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The firm had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

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.