Assetmark Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 67,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,928 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $3,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 53.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.57.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT opened at $56.44 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $52.22 and a one year high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The firm had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

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.