Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Short Interest Up 31.4% in March

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,800,000 shares, a growth of 31.4% from the February 28th total of 1,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 827,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. NFC Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Essent Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Essent Group by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Essent Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESNT shares. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.57.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $57.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 758,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,325. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.88. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $52.22 and a 1 year high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The firm’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 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

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.