Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ Sells 600 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ cut its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Essent Group comprises about 1.4% of Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 15,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Essent Group by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $621,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,582,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 353,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,629,000 after buying an additional 15,116 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 247,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,638,295. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Essent Group stock traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $52.96. The company had a trading volume of 51,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,501. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.00. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $40.33 and a 12-month high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The firm had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Essent Group’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.38.

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.