Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Essent Group by 726.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 167.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 49.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $62.41 on Thursday. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $45.63 and a 1-year high of $65.33. The firm has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.98.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.31% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

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.