WBI Investments LLC Invests $897,000 in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $897,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% in 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 acquired a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter worth about $46,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Essent Group by 32.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $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 worth $131,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total value of $158,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,574,700.45. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $260,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 243,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,796,495. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 17,979 shares of company stock valued at $1,164,460 over the last 90 days. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. DOWLING & PARTN cut Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Essent Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Compass Point reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $60.95 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.90. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors 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 yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.05%.

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.