Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 95,212 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 69.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 95,212 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,500,000 after purchasing an additional 19,387 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Essent Group by 10.8% during 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 100,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,445,000 after buying an additional 45,126 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Essent Group Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Essent Group stock traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $57.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 590,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,748. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $52.22 and a 1-year high of $65.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.91.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is a positive change from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.