Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $437,000 Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 233 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 750,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,684 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 561.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 56,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,663,000 after buying an additional 48,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE ESNT opened at $54.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $52.22 and a twelve month high of $65.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.57.

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.