Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 66.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 105,922 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $3,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Essent Group by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Essent Group by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 16,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Essent Group by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Essent Group by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,647,050.48. This trade represents a 19.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $746,135.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 196,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,799,930. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 28,190 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,316 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $60.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.91. 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 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $65.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $62.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.75.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $319.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 56.36%.The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on Essent Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Company 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.