Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Bought by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd significantly increased its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. by 855.1% during Q1, acquiring an additional 36,829 shares to total 41,136 shares valued at $2,374,000.
• Insider sales included SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons and CFO David B. Weinstock, who sold shares amounting to a combined total of $266,915 in recent transactions.
• Essent Group's quarterly earnings surpassed analysts' estimates, reporting $1.69 EPS and $317.56 million in revenue, leading to a 6.4% increase compared to the same quarter last year.

XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 855.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 36,829 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,119,000 after buying an additional 26,537 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 2,823 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,097,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,730,000 after buying an additional 75,837 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $69,364,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $312,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Essent Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.52. 669,061 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,265. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $58.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.32. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28, a PEG ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.82. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $311.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 57.29%. Essent Group's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 27,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,608,788.35. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 value 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. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,740 shares of company stock valued at $581,386. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Company 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.