Fairman Group LLC Has $7.41 Million Stake in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. by 22%, now holding 122,040 shares valued at approximately $7.41 million.
• Essent Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.0%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Essent Group's stock, with an average target price set at $65.67.

Fairman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 22.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,972 shares during the quarter. Essent Group comprises 6.1% of Fairman Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Fairman Group LLC owned about 0.12% of Essent Group worth $7,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 18,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 7,768 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $575,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 405,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,895,000 after acquiring an additional 184,478 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 163.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 12,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $60.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $62.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.88. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $65.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $319.14 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group's payout ratio is 18.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $260,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 243,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,796,495. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total value of $404,735.74. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,252 shares in the company, valued at $1,647,050.48. This trade represents a 19.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,190 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,316 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Essent Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. DOWLING & PARTN downgraded Essent Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "cautious" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Company 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.

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