Peregrine Capital Management LLC Buys 41,174 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 229,870 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 41,174 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned about 0.22% of Essent Group worth $12,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,723,000 after acquiring an additional 12,431 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,662,000 after acquiring an additional 99,604 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 31.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 424,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,294,000 after acquiring an additional 241,840 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,251,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 827,630. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $51.99 and a twelve month high of $65.33. The stock's 50 day moving average is $56.21 and its 200-day moving average is $58.95.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESNT. Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.