Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Acquired by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,709,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 515,171 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.61% of Essent Group worth $93,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Essent Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,367,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $673,265,000 after purchasing an additional 432,034 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $121,343,000 after buying an additional 700,730 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 19,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.71.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $55.55. 445,562 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 638,840. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $65.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.77.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. Essent Group's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio 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.