Engineers Gate Manager LP Buys 28,022 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 427.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 34,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,022 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 111.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 104,483 shares of company stock valued at $7,115,007 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $68.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.33 and its 200 day moving average is $62.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.53%.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.