Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Sells 85,686 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL decreased its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 186,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 85,686 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $10,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $69,364,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,343,000 after purchasing an additional 700,730 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,709,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,040,000 after buying an additional 515,171 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 846,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,065,000 after buying an additional 500,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,367,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $673,265,000 after buying an additional 432,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT opened at $55.98 on Tuesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $65.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.63.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.71.

Essent Group 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.