Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires New Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group Ltd., purchasing 14,577 shares valued at approximately $841,000 during the first quarter.
• Essent Group has received upgrades and price target increases from several analysts, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.71.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $1.24 and a yield of 2.19%.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,577 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $841,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $332,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 66.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 16.6% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 215.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 86,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,687,000 after buying an additional 58,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP grew its position in Essent Group by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 221,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,070,000 after buying an additional 33,698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Compass Point set a $69.00 price target on shares of Essent Group and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. 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. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, 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 of the company's stock, valued at $15,061,380. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $179,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 27,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,624,467. This trade represents a 9.95% 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.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $56.70 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $58.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.29. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.33. The company has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.16%.

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.

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