Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Cut to Hold at DOWLING & PARTN

DOWLING & PARTN cut shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Essent Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.67.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $62.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.82. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 3,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $233,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 247,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,315,426. This trade represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,647,050.48. This trade represents a 19.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,950 shares of company stock worth $919,651 over the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 15.2% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 423,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,719,000 after acquiring an additional 56,035 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 25.4% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 216.7% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 69,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 47,763 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 21.7% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 28,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 12.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,660,000 after acquiring an additional 13,552 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.