Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT) Cut to “Sell” at BidaskClub

BidaskClub lowered shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ESNT. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Essent Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a hold rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Bank of America Corporation raised shares of Essent Group from an underperform rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Barclays PLC increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of Essent Group from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $38.86.

Essent Group (ESNT) traded up 4.27% during trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.02. 1,412,504 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.14. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $23.38 and a 52-week high of $40.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.07. Essent Group had a net margin of 49.91% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $137.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group will post $2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, CFO Lawrence E. Mcalee, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total value of $258,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 279,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,330,752.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $164,073.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 275,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,744,305. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,600 shares of company stock worth $669,410 in the last ninety days. 18.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Essent Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its position in Essent Group by 14.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 2,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter worth approximately $120,000. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group during the first quarter worth approximately $144,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Essent Group by 186.3% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 2,735 shares during the period. 86.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. is a private mortgage insurance company. The Company is engaged in offering private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its products and services include mortgage insurance, contract underwriting, and Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance.