Key Points
- Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares on November 14 at an average price of $61.44 for a total of about $199,680, reducing his stake by 12.12% to 23,573 shares valued at roughly $1.45M.
- Essent reported quarterly EPS of $1.67, missing the $1.75 consensus and posting revenue of $311.8M versus estimates of $316.8M, while the stock trades with a market cap of about $6.07B and a PE of ~9.1.
- The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 (annualized $1.24, ~2.0% yield) and has heavy institutional ownership (~93%), with analysts holding a consensus "Hold" rating and a $65.67 target price.
Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,448,325.12. This trade represents a 12.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Essent Group Stock Down 0.4%
Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $62.76 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $65.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.35. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.91.
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The firm had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Essent Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group's payout ratio is 18.05%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 4.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,399,228 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $311,638,000 after acquiring an additional 230,553 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $123,223,000 after purchasing an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 78.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,596,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,173,000 after purchasing an additional 372,881 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "cautious" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. DOWLING & PARTN lowered Essent Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.67.
View Our Latest Research Report on ESNT
Essent Group Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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