Inspire Investing LLC Acquires 215 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,416,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $804,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 445,853 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $64.20 on Tuesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $45.63 and a one year high of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.06.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.31% and a return on equity of 14.40%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.94%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at $11,989,450.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,188 shares of company stock valued at $1,094,076 over the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

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.