Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,148,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,436 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.08% of Essent Group worth $73,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Essent Group by 726.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Essent Group during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 167.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lowered their price target 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, November 4th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $55.27 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $47.56 and a twelve month high of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.32.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 16.23%.

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.