EMG Holdings L.P. Makes New Investment in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

EMG Holdings L.P. bought a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 66,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,635,000. Essent Group comprises 2.2% of EMG Holdings L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. EMG Holdings L.P. owned approximately 0.06% of Essent Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,364,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in Essent Group by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,228,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,343,000 after acquiring an additional 700,730 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 432,034 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 132.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 424,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,294,000 after purchasing an additional 241,840 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 884.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 266,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,510,000 after purchasing an additional 239,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $58.26 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $52.22 and a 12 month high of $65.34. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.84.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.57.

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.