WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys New Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 12,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,983,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $107,114,521. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth about $1,485,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,136,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,082,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 104,483 shares of company stock valued at $7,115,007. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:ESNT opened at $68.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.71. The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

Essent Group Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.