Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $85.50 Million Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 19,387 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.48% of Essent Group worth $85,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 132.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 424,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,294,000 after acquiring an additional 241,840 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 984,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,591,000 after purchasing an additional 233,636 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 126,899 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 345,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,223,000 after purchasing an additional 108,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 worth $65,662,000 after buying an additional 99,604 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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, Essent Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.57.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.96 on Friday, hitting $54.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 948,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,434. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.52. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $52.22 and a one year high of $65.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group's payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

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.