Cooke & Bieler LP Increases Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 45.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 700,730 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 2.10% of Essent Group worth $121,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,431,000 after buying an additional 126,899 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $6,445,000 after purchasing an additional 45,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $55.64 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $56.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $52.22 and a 12 month high of $65.34.

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Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $313.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.57.

About Essent Group

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.

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