Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,280 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $46,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 330.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Essent Group by 20.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Essent Group by 102.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Compass Point reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total transaction of $158,325.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,574,700.45. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 3,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total transaction of $233,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 247,023 shares in the company, valued at $15,315,426. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,951 shares of company stock worth $811,061. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $65.24 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.52. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $65.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.86.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.10%.

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.