Norges Bank Invests $69.36 Million in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,274,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $69,364,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.20% of Essent Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,500,000 after purchasing an additional 19,387 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Essent Group by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,662,000 after buying an additional 99,604 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Essent Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,425,000 after buying an additional 59,750 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Essent Group by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Essent Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE ESNT traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.83. 1,003,799 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 624,517. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $52.06 and a 12-month high of $65.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.52 and a 200 day moving average of $57.49.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $313.88 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group's payout ratio is presently 18.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.71.

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.