VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 209,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,712,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.21% of Essent Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Fairman Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 22.0% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 122,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,411,000 after buying an additional 21,972 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 75.2% in the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 18,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,099,000 after buying an additional 7,768 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $575,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 83.6% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 405,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,895,000 after buying an additional 184,478 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Compass Point reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays upped their price target on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, DOWLING & PARTN cut Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $59.48 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $65.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $319.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 56.36%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $260,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 243,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,796,495. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $746,135.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 196,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,799,930. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,190 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,316 over the last quarter. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.