Boston Partners Has $55.46 Million Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Boston Partners grew its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 922,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.91% of Essent Group worth $55,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 1st quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. DOWLING & PARTN downgraded Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Compass Point restated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.67.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $61.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.91. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $65.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.02.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $298.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 18.05%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of Essent Group 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 196,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,799,930. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $260,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 243,023 shares in the company, valued at $15,796,495. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 17,979 shares of company stock worth $1,164,460 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.