California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 223,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,264 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $11,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,453,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,720,000 after buying an additional 14,145 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 6,932.3% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 47,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,230,000 after buying an additional 46,516 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,576,000 after buying an additional 35,484 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 533.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 257,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,171,000 after buying an additional 216,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $534,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.38.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT opened at $53.59 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $40.33 and a one year high of $59.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.42.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $297.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $286.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

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