Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 629 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

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

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $61.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $45.63 and a fifty-two week high of $64.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.91 and a 200 day moving average of $57.48.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The company had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

Essent Group 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.