Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Short Interest Down 18.2% in February

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, a decrease of 18.2% from the January 31st total of 1,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 758,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $2,180,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 3,002.0% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 106,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,814,000 after purchasing an additional 103,358 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 40,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 11,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GTS Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays cut Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.57.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Essent Group stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 852,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,787. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $52.22 and a fifty-two week high of $65.34. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.80.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.