EP Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 329 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crestline Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 495.9% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 20,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 17,366 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 721,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,276,000 after purchasing an additional 282,895 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 44,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 7,201 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,966,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,038,000 after purchasing an additional 445,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $58.62 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.33. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.03. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The firm had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $311.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.71.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,624,467. This trade represents a 9.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $106,744.39. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 253,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,199,031.54. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,001 shares of company stock worth $299,591 over the last quarter. 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.