Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 917,600 shares, an increase of 11.1% from the May 31st total of 825,600 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 478,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total value of $140,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $709,229,000 after acquiring an additional 440,385 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,326,000 after purchasing an additional 258,246 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,496,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,938,000 after purchasing an additional 25,483 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,453,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,720,000 after buying an additional 14,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,220,000 after buying an additional 120,881 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Essent Group stock traded down $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 174,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,328. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.85. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $44.96 and a 52 week high of $59.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.11.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 16.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESNT. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.25.

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.