Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Makes New $176,000 Investment in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 2.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 49.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Essent Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 26,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,555,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 12,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $61.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.48. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $45.63 and a twelve month high of $64.69.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.31% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.94%.

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.