Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Stock: Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Increases Stake

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management increased its Essent Group stake by 70.8% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 109,148 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with three Buy ratings and six Hold ratings producing a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $71.14, compared with the stock’s reported price of $66.83.
• Essent Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.08 on $362.69 million in revenue and pays a $0.35 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a $1.40 annual payout and a 2.1% yield. Insiders, however, sold 70,146 shares worth about $4.9 million over the past three months.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 70.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 45,239 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned about 0.12% of Essent Group worth $6,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of 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 six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.14.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $66.83 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 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 (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group's payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at $12,899,180. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares in the company, valued at $142,921,148.37. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders have sold 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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 in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.

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