American Century Companies Inc. Buys 91,595 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 839,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 91,595 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.79% of Essent Group worth $45,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 154.7% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group by 1.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,662,000 after purchasing an additional 99,604 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $270,425,000 after purchasing an additional 59,750 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 81.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 100,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,445,000 after purchasing an additional 45,126 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.57.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT traded up $0.54 on Tuesday, hitting $58.26. The company had a trading volume of 619,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,788. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $52.22 and a 52-week high of $65.34.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

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.