Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Essent Group by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $621,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,582,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 353,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,629,000 after acquiring an additional 15,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.38.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $53.59 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $40.33 and a 1-year high of $59.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The company had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $286.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 17.23%.

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.