Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Sold by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management cut its Essent Group stake by 99.1% in the second quarter, selling 205,646 shares and retaining 1,825 shares worth approximately $117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 93% of ESNT.
• Analysts raised their price targets to a range of $72–$80, but the stock maintains a consensus “Hold” rating with an average target of $71.86.
• Essent Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.08 on $362.69 million in revenue and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35, equivalent to a 2.1% annual yield.

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lowered its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 99.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 205,646 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC's holdings in Essent Group were worth $117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th 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 period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.86.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 798 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $55,867.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,038,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $142,742,898.93. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 99,646 shares of company stock worth $6,782,657 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE ESNT opened at $68.19 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $67.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.65. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.53%.

Essent Group 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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