GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 653 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $3,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ESNT. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 38.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,542,000 after purchasing an additional 49,393 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter worth $780,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter valued at $977,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,103.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.8 %

ESNT stock opened at $60.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.10. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $45.63 and a twelve month high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.31% and a return on equity of 14.40%. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.