Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $7.73 Million Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,780 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.14% of Essent Group worth $7,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter worth $77,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $126,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.75.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $56.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.64. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $42.46 and a 1 year high of $59.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The business had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

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.