Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 1,138 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 11.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Essent Group by 2.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 49.7% in 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. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 26,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 12,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the first quarter worth $32,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at $11,989,450.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,103.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $61.99 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $45.63 and a fifty-two week high of $64.69. The firm has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.48.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.31% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 16.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

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.