Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $657,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in Essent Group by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Essent Group by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 53.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
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 dropped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.57.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on ESNT
Essent Group Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE ESNT traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.34. 590,769 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 613,748. The company's 50-day moving average is $56.93 and its 200-day moving average is $57.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $52.22 and a 52-week high of $65.34.
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Essent Group Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.13%.
About Essent Group
(
Free Report)
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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