Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Hits New 52-Week High at $62.68

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $62.68 and last traded at $62.27, with a volume of 163320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.88.

Essent Group Stock Up 2.7 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.47. The company has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.67 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,112 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,525.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Essent Group by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.