Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Stock Sold by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments lessened its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 49.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,251 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Essent Group were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth $798,836,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $107,114,521. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,068,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth $41,041,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth $24,746,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 798 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $55,867.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,038,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,742,898.93. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total value of $332,350.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,714.31. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 70,146 shares of company stock worth $4,900,365. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:ESNT opened at $67.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.00. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The company had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Roth Capital boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, October 30th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.75.

Essent Group Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.