Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,387 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $85,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 53.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 8.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth $130,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Essent Group Trading Down 1.3 %

Essent Group stock opened at $55.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.64. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $52.22 and a 52 week high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

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.