BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 7,201 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,201 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 154.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,431,000 after buying an additional 126,899 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,993,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Essent Group by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 36,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Essent Group by 39.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,624,467. This trade represents a 9.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,777 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $106,744.39. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 253,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,199,031.54. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,001 shares of company stock worth $299,591. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $59.87 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.31. The stock has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The firm had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 18.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” 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 objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.71.

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.