Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 930 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 10.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,973,000 after acquiring an additional 445,853 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Essent Group by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 424,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,294,000 after purchasing an additional 241,840 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 436,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,499,000 after purchasing an additional 177,700 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,431,000 after purchasing an additional 126,899 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 345,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,223,000 after buying an additional 108,061 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.8 %

ESNT opened at $55.61 on Tuesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $50.65 and a 12 month high of $65.33. The company has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.35 and a 200 day moving average of $59.54.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.71.

Essent Group 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.