PUREfi Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,425,000 after buying an additional 59,750 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,723,000 after buying an additional 12,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,662,000 after buying an additional 99,604 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 984,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,591,000 after buying an additional 233,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 132.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 424,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,294,000 after buying an additional 241,840 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of ESNT opened at $56.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.13 and a 200-day moving average of $59.08. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.69 and a 52 week high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.71.

About Essent Group

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.