Metis Global Partners LLC Reduces Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Metis Global Partners LLC trimmed its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 396 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 50,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,841,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $55.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $47.56 and a one year high of $65.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.21 and its 200 day moving average is $59.50.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 16.23%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% 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, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.