Interval Partners LP Grows Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Interval Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,698 shares during the quarter. Interval Partners LP owned 0.21% of Essent Group worth $12,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,431,000 after purchasing an additional 126,899 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,500,000 after buying an additional 19,387 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 39.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 60,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,294,000 after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,119,000 after acquiring an additional 26,537 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $58.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.33. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $317.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $311.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

About Essent Group

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.