Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Short Interest Up 11.5% in November

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, an increase of 11.5% from the November 15th total of 1,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 622,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,973,000 after purchasing an additional 445,853 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 132.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 424,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,294,000 after buying an additional 241,840 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 68.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 436,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,499,000 after acquiring an additional 177,700 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 154.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,431,000 after acquiring an additional 126,899 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 345,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,223,000 after acquiring an additional 108,061 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $55.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $50.65 and a 12-month high of $65.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.54.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESNT. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Barclays cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.71.

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.