VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires 16,700 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems increased its Essent Group stake by 9.2%, acquiring 16,700 shares to hold 199,179 shares valued at approximately $11.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93% of the company.
• Essent insiders sold 70,146 shares worth roughly $4.9 million over the past 90 days, including sales by directors Roy Kasmar and Douglas J. Pauls.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with three Buy ratings and seven Holds and a consensus price target of $70.75. Essent shares opened at $67.01, while the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35, yielding about 2.1% annually.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 199,179 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,700 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.22% of Essent Group worth $11,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 796.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,084,000 after purchasing an additional 28,527 shares in the last quarter. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $107,114,521. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $8,187,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $2,401,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $2,161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total transaction of $332,350.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,467,714.31. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 30,154 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,733.80. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $67.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.37. The company's fifty day moving average is $65.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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

Essent Group Profile

Essent Group Ltd. NYSE: ESNT is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.

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