Quadrature Capital Ltd Buys New Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth $126,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,112 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $55.80 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.67. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.49 and a 1 year high of $59.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on 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. downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.25.

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.