Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 30,000 Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 30,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,582,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 25.5% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 56,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 5.3% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:ESNT opened at $53.42 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $40.33 and a 12-month high of $59.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The firm had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.