GAMMA Investing LLC Trims Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

GAMMA Investing LLC decreased its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 628 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $262,973,000 after purchasing an additional 445,853 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,425,000 after acquiring an additional 59,750 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,723,000 after acquiring an additional 12,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,662,000 after purchasing an additional 99,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 750,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:ESNT opened at $54.43 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 7.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.23. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $50.65 and a 52 week high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Essent Group’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.71.

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.