30,000 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 30,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,582,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 353,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,629,000 after buying an additional 15,116 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,542,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $290,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $126,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after buying an additional 8,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note 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 stock a “market perform” rating in a research note 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 stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.38.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $53.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.86 and a 200-day moving average of $52.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.04. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $40.33 and a 12 month high of $59.90.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.23%.

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.