Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,966,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 445,012 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.85% of Essent Group worth $107,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESNT. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,988 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 25,883 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,409,000 after buying an additional 5,271 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 516,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,132,000 after buying an additional 27,077 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Essent Group by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,460,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,506,000 after buying an additional 146,557 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 226.9% in the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 23,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 16,110 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.71.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ESNT traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.53. 715,154 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 637,776. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.34. The company has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The firm had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $311.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.13%.

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.