Cerity Partners LLC Makes New $890,000 Investment in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter valued at about $332,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 16.6% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 66.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 215.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 86,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,687,000 after buying an additional 58,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 221,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,070,000 after buying an additional 33,698 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,624,467. The trade was a 9.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $146,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,608,788.35. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,740 shares of company stock worth $581,386. Insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.70. The stock had a trading volume of 534,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,338. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $65.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.28.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.18 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 57.29% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Compass Point set a $69.00 target price on Essent Group and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.71.

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.