Xponance Inc. cut its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,585 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 390 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Essent Group were worth $578,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Essent Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,995,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $617,982,000 after acquiring an additional 71,629 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Essent Group by 4.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,590,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $436,419,000 after acquiring an additional 411,585 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Essent Group by 10.2% during the first 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. State Street Corp raised its position in Essent Group by 7.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,375,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $180,327,000 after acquiring an additional 286,764 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its position in Essent Group by 1.7% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 3,800,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $147,827,000 after acquiring an additional 64,056 shares during the period. 92.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Essent Group stock opened at $38.55 on Monday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $34.27 and a 12-month high of $50.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.83, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.05.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 30th. This is a positive change from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, Director Aditya Dutt sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.23, for a total transaction of $235,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $903,192.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESNT. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $53.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet cut shares of Essent Group from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.20.

About Essent Group

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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.

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