Versor Investments LP Acquires 10,700 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 246.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,700 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Essent Group by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,542,000 after acquiring an additional 49,393 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter valued at about $780,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $977,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $709,229,000 after buying an additional 440,385 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $57.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.92 and a 200 day moving average of $59.41. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $47.56 and a 1-year high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The company’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.