Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,956 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 238 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position 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 buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 53.9% in the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Essent Group Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ESNT opened at $58.55 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.01. The firm 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 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $52.22 and a 1-year high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

About Essent Group

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.