Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 14,248 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,248 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $13,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 15.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. BayBridge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 5.7% in the third quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 94,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,053,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, NFC Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,633,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.71.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT stock opened at $56.43 on Tuesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.69 and a 1-year high of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.23%.

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.