Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $18.63 Million Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 353,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,116 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $18,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in 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 valued at $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Essent Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 56,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.38.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $53.66 on Monday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $40.33 and a 52 week high of $59.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 5,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 247,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,638,295. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.