Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 561.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 56,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,366 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $3,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESNT. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 valued at $10,542,000 after purchasing an additional 49,393 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Essent Group by 10.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,973,000 after purchasing an additional 445,853 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 147.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $605,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $56.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.48. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $47.56 and a 12 month high of $65.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released 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 return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.