BayBridge Capital Group LLC Buys 434 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

BayBridge Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $709,229,000 after purchasing an additional 440,385 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 10.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,973,000 after purchasing an additional 445,853 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 94.1% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 739,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,019,000 after buying an additional 358,621 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 436,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,499,000 after buying an additional 177,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Essent Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 361,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,286,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $60.49 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $45.63 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The firm had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Essent Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.