Pacer Advisors Inc. Invests $880,000 in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 29th, 2023

Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 18,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $880,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESNT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth $40,728,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Essent Group by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,781,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,875,000 after acquiring an additional 815,259 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1,442.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 638,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,590,000 after purchasing an additional 597,330 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,606,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,590,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,419,000 after purchasing an additional 411,585 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ESNT shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Essent Group from $50.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Sunday, August 6th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.29.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on ESNT

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $48.32 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $34.29 and a 1 year high of $53.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.13.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.10. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 66.31%. The company had revenue of $260.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.80, for a total transaction of $747,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 261,324 shares in the company, valued at $13,013,935.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 15,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.80, for a total transaction of $747,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 261,324 shares in the company, valued at $13,013,935.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 3,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $184,123.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 224,870 shares in the company, valued at $11,247,997.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,844 shares of company stock worth $1,294,776 over the last ninety days. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.