Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,846,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 87,630 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $103,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,678,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $709,229,000 after purchasing an additional 440,385 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 94.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 739,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,019,000 after buying an additional 358,621 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Essent Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,326,000 after buying an additional 258,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 650,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,295,000 after purchasing an additional 154,591 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $63.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.64. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $45.63 and a 1-year high of $64.05. The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.11.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The company had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 research report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

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

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.