EMG Holdings L.P. Purchases New Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

EMG Holdings L.P. purchased a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 30,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,686,000. Essent Group comprises about 0.8% of EMG Holdings L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $709,229,000 after acquiring an additional 440,385 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Essent Group by 10.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,973,000 after acquiring an additional 445,853 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 10.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,220,000 after acquiring an additional 120,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $60,678,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 94.1% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 739,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,019,000 after acquiring an additional 358,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ESNT opened at $64.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.86. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $45.63 and a 12-month high of $65.33.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

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.