Versor Investments LP Invests $1.83 Million in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 30,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,825,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,399,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,638,000 after buying an additional 230,553 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,272.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 970,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,044,000 after buying an additional 900,229 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 941,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,168,000 after buying an additional 28,261 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 848,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,581,000 after buying an additional 331,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth $41,084,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total value of $158,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,574,700.45. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $260,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 243,023 shares in the company, valued at $15,796,495. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,190 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,316 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Essent Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Compass Point reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, DOWLING & PARTN downgraded Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $60.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.67. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $65.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 56.36%.The business had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

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.