Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,153,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 93,245 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.08% of Essent Group worth $64,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $709,229,000 after purchasing an additional 440,385 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $212,326,000 after buying an additional 258,246 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,496,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,938,000 after buying an additional 25,483 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth about $60,678,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 94.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 739,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,019,000 after buying an additional 358,621 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded up $0.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $64.29. The company had a trading volume of 281,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,015. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $45.63 and a 12-month high of $64.42. The business's 50-day moving average is $59.68 and its 200 day moving average is $56.82. The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.11.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. Essent Group's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESNT. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.33.

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.

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