Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Takes Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $177,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 726.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Essent Group by 167.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 49.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $56.29 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.54. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $48.08 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.23%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. This represents a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.