JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 99,604 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.96% of Essent Group worth $65,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Essent Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 50,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 32,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.71.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 504,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 476,982. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $50.65 and a 12 month high of $65.33. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $55.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.26.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Essent Group's revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.23%.

Essent Group 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.