Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,833 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Essent Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pearl River Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 8.0% in the third quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 8,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 227,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,753,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.38.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT opened at $53.86 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $40.33 and a fifty-two week high of $59.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.04.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $297.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.23%.

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.