Fmr LLC Has $425.75 Million Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Fmr LLC lessened its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,820,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,098,499 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 0.07% of Essent Group worth $425,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NFC Investments LLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,086,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Essent Group by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $55.53 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

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.