Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 3.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 233,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,741 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $13,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $60,678,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $20,097,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Essent Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,326,000 after acquiring an additional 258,246 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Essent Group by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 650,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,295,000 after acquiring an additional 154,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Essent Group by 10.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,220,000 after acquiring an additional 120,881 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ESNT traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $54.95. 407,028 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 509,136. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.94. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $45.63 and a fifty-two week high of $59.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 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. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The firm had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.69 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 16.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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