Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 9,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 49.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $176,000. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,188 shares of company stock valued at $1,094,076. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Essent Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Essent Group stock opened at $63.87 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $45.63 and a 12-month high of $65.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The business had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.94%.

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.