Empowered Funds LLC Takes Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 43,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,361,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 53.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth $130,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth $177,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lowered Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $56.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.69 and a one year high of $65.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $56.12 and its 200-day moving average is $59.14.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Company 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.