Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Holdings Reduced by Jane Street Group LLC

Jane Street Group LLC decreased its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 90,696 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Essent Group worth $5,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $262,973,000 after buying an additional 445,853 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth $605,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 163.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 44,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 27,717 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $526,000. Finally, Paralel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $2,155,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Essent Group Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $55.61. 1,001,339 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 536,824. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $50.65 and a 12 month high of $65.33. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $58.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.54.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business's revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.71.

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.