State of Alaska Department of Revenue Grows Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BayBridge Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.7% during the third quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 23,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Essent Group by 163.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 44,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 27,717 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Essent Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $56.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.43 and its 200-day moving average is $59.34. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $47.56 and a one year high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Essent Group

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.