Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Grows Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,883 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,271 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 154.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,431,000 after purchasing an additional 126,899 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,993,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 60,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,294,000 after buying an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Essent Group by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 13,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 2,832 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Essent Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.53. 715,154 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 637,776. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $56.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.03. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The firm had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $311.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. Essent Group's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group's payout ratio is 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.