Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,431 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $99,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Essent Group by 38.7% in the 1st 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,973,000 after purchasing an additional 445,853 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 147.5% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 20,023 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $605,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. This represents a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ESNT opened at $57.75 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $47.56 and a 12 month high of $65.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.53. The firm has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.28 dividend. 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 1.94%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.23%.

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.