Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CFO David B. Weinstock Sells 2,000 Shares

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $63.52 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $45.63 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.99.

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 company had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.31% and a return on equity of 14.40%. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.94%.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $709,229,000 after buying an additional 440,385 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 445,853 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $74,220,000 after buying an additional 120,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $60,678,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 739,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,019,000 after buying an additional 358,621 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.