Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Acquired by Boston Partners

Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 925,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,081 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 0.87% of Essent Group worth $50,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 884.8% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 266,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,510,000 after acquiring an additional 239,473 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Essent Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $532,000. NFC Investments LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $326,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT stock opened at $55.43 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $52.22 and a 1 year high of $65.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.10, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.