Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Fairman Group LLC

Fairman Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Essent Group accounts for about 4.5% of Fairman Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Fairman Group LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Essent Group worth $5,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 59,750 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,723,000 after buying an additional 12,431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 10.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,662,000 after acquiring an additional 99,604 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 984,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,591,000 after acquiring an additional 233,636 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $27,294,000 after acquiring an additional 241,840 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ESNT. Barclays cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $58.07 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.32 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33.

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.