Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Boosts Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $81,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,576,000 after buying an additional 35,484 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,453,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,720,000 after buying an additional 14,145 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,118,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,903,000 after buying an additional 289,937 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Essent Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 497,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,520,000 after buying an additional 15,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 441,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,890,000 after buying an additional 66,492 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $53.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.97 and a 200 day moving average of $52.24. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.04. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $40.33 and a 12-month high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The company had revenue of $297.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $286.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.38.

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.