Capital Research Global Investors Reduces Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Capital Research Global Investors lessened its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 70.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,200,000 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Essent Group were worth $29,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.88.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT stock opened at $62.85 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $45.63 and a 1 year high of $62.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.60.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.69 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Essent Group news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Company 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.