GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 203 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Essent Group by 38.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,542,000 after buying an additional 49,393 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at $780,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth $6,195,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the first quarter valued at about $977,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.33.

Essent Group Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE ESNT opened at $63.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.08 and its 200 day moving average is $57.56. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $45.63 and a twelve month high of $64.69.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

About Essent Group

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.