South Dakota Investment Council Acquires 17,000 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 161,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.15% of Essent Group worth $8,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 94,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,053,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFC Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,633,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.57.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ESNT traded down $0.51 on Wednesday, reaching $56.30. 796,464 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 826,299. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $56.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.89. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $52.15 and a 52 week high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Essent Group's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Essent Group's payout ratio is presently 18.13%.

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.