State of Alaska Department of Revenue Purchases 26,745 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 216.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 26,745 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Essent Group by 726.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 53.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 51.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.71.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,784,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,758. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.69 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $56.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released 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). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The company had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $313.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Essent Group's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.