AdvisorShares Investments LLC Buys Shares of 7,700 Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the first quarter valued at $46,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Essent Group by 32.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the first quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 66.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. DOWLING & PARTN lowered shares of Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.6%

Essent Group stock opened at $60.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $62.16 and its 200 day moving average is $59.61. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.88.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,647,050.48. The trade was a 19.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total transaction of $158,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 24,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,574,700.45. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,190 shares of company stock worth $1,802,316. Company 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.