Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Get Rating) by 35.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 243,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 131,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $8,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,781,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,875,000 after buying an additional 815,259 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,590,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,419,000 after acquiring an additional 411,585 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Essent Group by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,375,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,327,000 after acquiring an additional 286,764 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,213,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,210,000 after purchasing an additional 251,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,320,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,930,000 after purchasing an additional 232,103 shares in the last quarter. 92.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,072 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $48,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 247,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,128,185. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.49, for a total value of $108,725.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,746.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,072 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $48,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 247,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,128,185. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESNT. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Barclays lowered Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Friday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $53.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.20.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $43.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 5.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.19. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $34.27 and a 1-year high of $45.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.51.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.22). Essent Group had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 83.07%. The firm had revenue of $230.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.56 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.97%.

Essent Group Company Profile

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Essent Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services. It offers mortgage insurance, reinsurance, and risk management products. The company was founded by Mark A. Casale on July 1, 2008 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.