Vanguard Group Inc. Has $605.32 Million Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,477,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,825 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Essent Group worth $605,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $60,678,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $20,097,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,326,000 after purchasing an additional 258,246 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 533.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 257,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 216,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 650,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,295,000 after purchasing an additional 154,591 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total value of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,112 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Essent Group stock opened at $57.36 on Tuesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $44.34 and a 1-year high of $59.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.62.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESNT. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Five 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.25.

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.