Paralel Advisors LLC Purchases 3,832 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Paralel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,832 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $588,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 333,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,136,000 after acquiring an additional 13,021 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $2,456,000. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in Essent Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 94,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,146,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 60,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,299,000 after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.71.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $55.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,017. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $65.34.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.13%.

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.