Quantbot Technologies LP Has $1.42 Million Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. by 71.5%, owning 24,616 shares worth approximately $1.42 million as of the latest SEC disclosure.
• Essent Group reported a quarterly EPS of $1.93, beating estimates of $1.68, with revenue of $319.14 million, reflecting a 2% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, yielding 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 18.10%.

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 71.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,266 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at $46,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 20.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 102.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,687 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESNT. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. DOWLING & PARTN cut Essent Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $60.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,647,050.48. The trade was a 19.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 3,760 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $233,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 247,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,315,426. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,950 shares of company stock valued at $919,651. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:ESNT traded down $0.76 on Thursday, hitting $62.86. 117,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,352. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $65.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.70.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $319.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 56.36%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Essent Group's 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.