Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 1,432 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,432 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,453,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,720,000 after purchasing an additional 14,145 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,195,000. NFC Investments LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,976,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $837,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 6,932.3% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 47,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 46,516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $57.36 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.62. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.34 and a 1 year high of $59.90. The company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 16.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the 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 $1,521,525.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group 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.