Aigen Investment Management LP Takes Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 726.8% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 167.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Barclays lowered 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. 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 research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $55.63 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $47.56 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.64 and a 200 day moving average of $59.41.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 16.23%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

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 transaction of $127,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. This represents a 7.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.