Keybank National Association OH Boosts Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,500,000 after buying an additional 19,387 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Essent Group by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Essent Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in Essent Group by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 161,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,790,000 after buying an additional 17,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $55.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.64. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $52.22 and a 52-week high of $65.34. The company has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The firm had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.