Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Buys 3,782 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 12.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock traded up $0.76 on Friday, hitting $62.85. 661,146 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 519,025. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $45.63 and a 1 year high of $62.99.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The firm had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price target 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. 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 research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.88.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total value of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total value of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.