Martingale Asset Management L P Acquires 379 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $5,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,367,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $673,265,000 after buying an additional 432,034 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Essent Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,425,000 after buying an additional 59,750 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,343,000 after buying an additional 700,730 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,500,000 after purchasing an additional 19,387 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $69,364,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $55.53 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.40 and a 200 day moving average of $57.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.