MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 8,947 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,947 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Essent Group worth $6,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,364,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in 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 valued at $121,343,000 after purchasing an additional 700,730 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,709,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $93,040,000 after purchasing an additional 515,171 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 846,169 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,065,000 after purchasing an additional 500,494 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $55.68. 80,171 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 637,200. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. 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 posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. Essent Group's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current 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 represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.13%.

Essent Group Company 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.