Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Takes $750,000 Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired 12,996 shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) valued at approximately $750,000 during the first quarter.
• Essent Group reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.93 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $1.68, with revenue of $319.14 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $750,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Essent Group by 330.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Essent Group by 20.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its stake in Essent Group by 102.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,687 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 66.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 note on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $60.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.67.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total value of $146,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,608,788.35. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $119,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 251,023 shares in the company, valued at $15,061,380. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,739 shares of company stock worth $281,795 over the last quarter. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ESNT stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $62.36. 181,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 754,457. The business's fifty day moving average is $58.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.82.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

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.