Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Acquired by Paralel Advisors LLC

Paralel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,832 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.71.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.4 %

ESNT traded down $0.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.68. 10,025 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 626,001. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 7.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $65.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.42.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The company had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.13%.

Essent Group 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.