Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lessened its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.9% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 43,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Essent Group by 146.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 109,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,147,000 after purchasing an additional 64,952 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 26,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares in the last quarter. EMG Holdings L.P. purchased a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,686,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $717,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $63.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.61. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $45.63 and a one year high of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.12.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Essent Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at $11,989,450.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,989,450.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,188 shares of company stock valued at $1,094,076. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.