Engineers Gate Manager LP Has $2.22 Million Stake in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its Essent Group stake by 427.2% in the second quarter, ending with 34,582 shares valued at approximately $2.22 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but improved, with several firms raising price targets and two upgrading the stock to “buy.” Essent has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $71.86.
• Essent reported quarterly earnings of $2.08 per share on $362.69 million in revenue and maintains a $0.35 quarterly dividend, equal to a 2% annualized yield. Shares opened at $68.76, near the company’s 52-week high of $70.37.

Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 427.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,022 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter worth $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 111.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 798 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $55,867.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,038,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,742,898.93. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,483 shares of company stock valued at $7,115,007. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $68.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.33 and a 200-day moving average of $62.71. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $55.34 and a one year high of $70.37. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. NYSE: ESNT is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent's principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.

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