Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 28.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,418 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pearl River Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 8,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 667 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 recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.75.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $56.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.69. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $43.12 and a 1-year high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The business had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 16.94%.

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.