Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Bought by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 30.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 112,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,537 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.11% of Essent Group worth $6,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 700,730 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 132.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 424,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,294,000 after buying an additional 241,840 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 884.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 266,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,510,000 after buying an additional 239,473 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 984,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,591,000 after buying an additional 233,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 154.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,431,000 after acquiring an additional 126,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.57.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $58.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.84. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $52.22 and a 12 month high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.13%.

Essent Group 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.