Jennison Associates LLC Acquires New Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 381,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,097,000. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.36% of Essent Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 86,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,579,000 after purchasing an additional 42,197 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 15,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $838,000 after buying an additional 1,816 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 3,792 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $621,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,582,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.38.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.98. The stock had a trading volume of 499,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,157. The company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50-day moving average price is $54.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.24. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $40.33 and a 12 month high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $297.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $286.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Essent Group's payout ratio is 17.23%.

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.