JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 45,606 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,027,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,606 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $62,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter valued at $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the first quarter worth $99,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Essent Group by 32.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 20.6% in the first 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. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.4%

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

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $311.83 million during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. DOWLING & PARTN cut shares of Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.67.

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 transaction of $158,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,574,700.45. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 243,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,796,495. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,229 shares of company stock worth $1,364,140. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company 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.