Peregrine Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,998 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned 0.18% of Essent Group worth $10,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,728,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.2% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,781,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $361,875,000 after buying an additional 815,259 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 1,442.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 638,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,590,000 after buying an additional 597,330 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,606,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 4.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,590,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $436,419,000 after buying an additional 411,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ESNT traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $56.21. 393,348 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 531,757. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $39.43 and a 12-month high of $59.90. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $54.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.74.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The business's revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Essent Group's payout ratio is currently 17.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 5,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $275,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 247,969 shares in the company, valued at $13,638,295. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.