Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Position Trimmed by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,956 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group by 53.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $58.55 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $52.22 and a 1-year high of $65.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (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 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.57.

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.