Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Sold by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP trimmed its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,099,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 129,197 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 2.02% of Essent Group worth $121,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,364,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 1,272.6% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 970,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,044,000 after buying an additional 900,229 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Essent Group by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,709,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,040,000 after buying an additional 515,171 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 846,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,065,000 after purchasing an additional 500,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,966,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,038,000 after purchasing an additional 445,012 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Compass Point set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.71.

Insider Activity

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 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. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $146,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,608,788.35. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,740 shares of company stock valued at $581,386 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $55.88 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $58.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.19. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $65.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. Essent Group had a net margin of 57.29% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.18 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio 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.