Martingale Asset Management L P Boosts Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.09% of Essent Group worth $5,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 60,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,299,000 after buying an additional 17,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 566,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,820,000 after buying an additional 15,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 10,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $55.53 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $65.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.