Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,431 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.46% of Essent Group worth $99,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter worth approximately $220,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Essent Group by 38.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,542,000 after purchasing an additional 49,393 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Trading LLC grew its stake in Essent Group by 10.7% in the first quarter. Walleye Trading LLC now owns 5,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $57.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $47.56 and a 1-year high of $65.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.53.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 7.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.