Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 6,900 Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth $232,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $548,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,313,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $421,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $270,425,000 after acquiring an additional 59,750 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ESNT shares. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.71.

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Essent Group Stock Down 2.5 %

ESNT stock traded down $1.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 218,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 836,083. The company's fifty day moving average is $56.40 and its 200-day moving average is $57.42. The company has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group's payout ratio 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.