Swiss National Bank Grows Stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $11,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ESNT. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Essent Group by 154.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,431,000 after acquiring an additional 126,899 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Essent Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,500,000 after acquiring an additional 19,387 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Essent Group by 10.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,662,000 after acquiring an additional 99,604 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Essent Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,425,000 after acquiring an additional 59,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Essent Group by 81.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 100,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,445,000 after acquiring an additional 45,126 shares during 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 $55.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.23. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $52.22 and a one year high of $65.34. The firm has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.57.

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.