US Bancorp DE Buys 391 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 53.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV grew its position in Essent Group by 15.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 22.7% in the third 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 grew its position in Essent Group by 1.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Essent Group by 561.3% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 56,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,663,000 after purchasing an additional 48,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $54.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.81 and a 200-day moving average of $58.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $52.22 and a 52-week high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted 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). The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.