First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 128,690 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Get Rating) by 35.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 490,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 128,690 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $19,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 92,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,072,000 after buying an additional 44,467 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,736,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,403,000 after purchasing an additional 415,855 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 462,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,000,000 after purchasing an additional 32,546 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth $315,000. Finally, Goodman Financial Corp lifted its stake in Essent Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 242,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,433,000 after purchasing an additional 5,132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.80.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $44.73 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.16. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $34.27 and a 12-month high of $45.67.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $256.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.57 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 73.35% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 14.75%.

Essent Group Company Profile

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Essent Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services. It offers mortgage insurance, reinsurance, and risk management products. The company was founded by Mark A. Casale on July 1, 2008 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.