Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,681 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.22% of Essent Group worth $13,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $62.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.35. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $65.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.05%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $746,135.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 196,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,799,930. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total transaction of $158,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,574,700.45. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 21,229 shares of company stock worth $1,364,140 over the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ESNT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.67.

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.