Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 243,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,230 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $13,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% during the 4th 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 raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $58.56 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $65.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lowered Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.71.

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.