Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $56.04 Million Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 1,272.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 970,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 900,229 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.94% of Essent Group worth $56,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,439,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $472,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,036.3% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 6,943 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $890,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 7.8% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 145,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,396,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 27,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,624,467. The trade was a 9.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 directly owned 251,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,061,380. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,740 shares of company stock valued at $581,386 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.71.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.69. The stock had a trading volume of 659,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,138. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.23. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $65.34. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.