Point72 DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ESNT. NFC Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,633,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,313,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Essent Group in the third quarter worth approximately $548,000. ClearAlpha Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 14,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $232,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $56.14 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $48.08 and a 12 month high of $65.33. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.52.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The company’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s payout ratio 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.