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

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 71.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,433 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ESNT. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Essent Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $177,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $58.26 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.84. The firm has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 company had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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