Jane Street Group LLC Reduces Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Jane Street Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 49.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 91,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 90,696 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $5,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,973,000 after purchasing an additional 445,853 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Essent Group by 163.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 44,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,872,000 after buying an additional 27,717 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $526,000. Finally, Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth $2,155,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.71.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $55.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.54. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $50.65 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.23%.

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.