Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 22,241 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,241 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.08% of Essent Group worth $4,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 154.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,431,000 after purchasing an additional 126,899 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 163.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 44,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 27,717 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 59,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 81.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 100,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,445,000 after purchasing an additional 45,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESNT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.57.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.16. 1,251,707 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 827,630. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.95. The company has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.99 and a 12 month high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is currently 16.37%.

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.