MQS Management LLC Makes New Investment in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,183 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $472,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 1,036.3% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 6,943 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth about $890,000. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 145,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,396,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,033,000 after buying an additional 5,001 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 138.9% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 100,228 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,785,000 after buying an additional 58,271 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.71.

Insider Activity

In other Essent Group news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 27,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,624,467. The trade was a 9.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,999 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $119,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 251,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,061,380. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,740 shares of company stock worth $581,386 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.3%

ESNT stock traded up $0.20 on Thursday, hitting $56.08. The company had a trading volume of 656,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 675,944. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.34. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $58.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.21. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $317.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $311.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Essent Group's payout ratio is 18.16%.

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.