Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,168,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 200,284 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 4.87% of Essent Group worth $281,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,367,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $673,265,000 after acquiring an additional 432,034 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Essent Group by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,370,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $129,049,000 after buying an additional 221,950 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $121,343,000 after acquiring an additional 700,730 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,709,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $93,040,000 after purchasing an additional 515,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,500,000 after purchasing an additional 19,387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.71.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ESNT stock traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.55. 445,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 638,840. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $65.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.79 and a 200 day moving average of $56.77. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.