California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 21,395 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 204,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,395 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.19% of Essent Group worth $11,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NFC Investments LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,086,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Essent Group Trading Down 1.5 %

ESNT stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $54.62. The company had a trading volume of 89,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,330. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.42. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.34.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Essent Group's payout ratio is presently 18.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.71.

Essent Group Company 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.