Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 358,621 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 94.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 739,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 358,621 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.69% of Essent Group worth $44,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $409,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 86.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 65,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,872,000 after acquiring an additional 30,149 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 36.5% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 39,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 10,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 221.3% during the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 10,346 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Essent Group stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $54.95. The company had a trading volume of 407,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,136. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $45.63 and a 12-month high of $59.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $56.01 and its 200-day moving average is $54.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.11.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The business had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 16.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their target price on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

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.