Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Raises Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 566,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,137 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned about 0.53% of Essent Group worth $30,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,364,000. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $121,343,000 after buying an additional 700,730 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essent Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,367,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $673,265,000 after acquiring an additional 432,034 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 884.8% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 266,537 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,510,000 after acquiring an additional 239,473 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 984,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,591,000 after acquiring an additional 233,636 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

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Essent Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.00. The stock had a trading volume of 195,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,393. The business's fifty day moving average price is $56.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $65.34.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. Essent Group's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group's payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.71.

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.