Captrust Financial Advisors reduced its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Free Report) by 65.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,345 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Essent Group were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 726.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 167.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 53.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group
In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.71.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ESNT
Essent Group Stock Performance
NYSE ESNT opened at $55.19 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $50.65 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.49 and a 200-day moving average of $59.51. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.09.
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Essent Group Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.23%.
About Essent Group
(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.
See Also
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