Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Acquired by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,833 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pearl River Capital LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 8.0% in the third quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 8,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in Essent Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 227,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,753,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.38.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $53.86 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $40.33 and a fifty-two week high of $59.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $54.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.04.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $286.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.23%.

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.