Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires New Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp recently acquired a new stake in Essent Group Ltd., purchasing 6,724 shares valued at approximately $388,000.
• Essent Group reported earnings of $1.93 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31, with a dividend yield of 1.9%.
• Institutional investors own 93% of Essent Group's stock, indicating strong confidence from large financial entities in the company's growth potential.

Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth $993,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in Essent Group by 280.5% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 10,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 7,614 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth $332,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 66.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.2%

ESNT traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $64.15. 130,987 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 723,805. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.19. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group's payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 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 shares of Essent Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Compass Point restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 3,760 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total transaction of $233,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 247,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,315,426. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $146,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,608,788.35. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,950 shares of company stock valued at $919,651 in the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.