Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 138.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,228 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 58,271 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.10% of Essent Group worth $5,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted 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 worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a report on Monday. Compass Point set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $119,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 251,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,061,380. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,740 shares of company stock valued at $581,386. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $56.81. 949,594 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 668,004. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.81. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $65.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.11.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.16%.

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.