Provident Investment Management Inc. Has $433,000 Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Provident Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 42.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,755 shares during the quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,995,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $617,982,000 after purchasing an additional 71,629 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,160,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $389,177,000 after buying an additional 261,537 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,717,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $389,198,000 after buying an additional 89,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in 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 worth $361,875,000 after acquiring an additional 815,259 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Essent Group by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,375,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,327,000 after acquiring an additional 286,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, September 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $50.00 to $59.00 in a report on Sunday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.29.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $48.35 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.24 and its 200 day moving average is $47.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $36.53 and a 1 year high of $53.66.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 16.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.20, for a total value of $96,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,236,233.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 15,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.80, for a total transaction of $747,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 261,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,013,935.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.20, for a total transaction of $96,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,236,233.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock valued at $947,160. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.