HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 14,433 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 71.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,433 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Essent Group were worth $319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESNT. Barclays PLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 126,899 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,500,000 after purchasing an additional 19,387 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Essent Group by 10.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,662,000 after purchasing an additional 99,604 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Essent Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,425,000 after purchasing an additional 59,750 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Essent Group by 39.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

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Essent Group Stock Down 4.0 %

Essent Group stock traded down $2.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.49. The stock had a trading volume of 976,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 619,324. The stock's 50 day moving average is $56.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.68. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $52.22 and a 1 year high of $65.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The company's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ESNT. Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated 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. dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.57.

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.