Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 28,527 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 796.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 28,527 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 99,646 shares of company stock worth $6,782,657 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.86.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $68.19 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.62. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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

About Essent Group

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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