Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Set to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $0.35

Key Points

• Essent Group declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record December 1. The annualized dividend is $1.40, a 2.2% yield.
• The dividend appears well covered: the payout ratio is 19.2%, and the company has raised its dividend for six consecutive years.
• In its latest quarter, Essent reported EPS of $1.82, slightly below analyst estimates, while revenue of $374.18 million topped expectations. Shares fell $5.24 to $63.36 in Friday midday trading.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, December 10th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st.

Essent Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Essent Group has a payout ratio of 19.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.0%.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT stock traded down $5.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,119,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 750,659. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $71.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.08.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.03). Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The company had revenue of $374.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $344.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total transaction of $376,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,994 shares in the company, valued at $2,055,788.76. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total value of $332,350.27. Following the sale, the director owned 21,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,467,714.31. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 69,663 shares of company stock worth $4,866,555 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 110,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 59,160 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 36,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 709,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,074,000 after purchasing an additional 109,494 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. NYSE: ESNT is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.

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