Ameriprise Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Essent Group Ltd. by 14.4%, owning approximately 1.62% of the company, valued at $97.15 million.
• Essent Group reported $1.93 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.68, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 2.0%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.0%, to be paid on September 10th.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,683,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 283,025 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 1.62% of Essent Group worth $97,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $2,456,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 553.2% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 113,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,214,000 after purchasing an additional 96,488 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 375.8% during the fourth quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 61,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,335,000 after purchasing an additional 48,391 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 243,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,280,000 after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 252,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 18,941 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. DOWLING & PARTN downgraded Essent Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Compass Point restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total value of $146,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,365 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total value of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,647,050.48. The trade was a 19.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,950 shares of company stock valued at $919,651 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.3%

ESNT stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.73. The company had a trading volume of 439,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 591,562. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $65.33. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $59.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.77. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.85.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 56.36%.The firm had revenue of $319.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.