Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.71.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Essent Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,425,000 after purchasing an additional 59,750 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,723,000 after acquiring an additional 12,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,662,000 after acquiring an additional 99,604 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 984,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,591,000 after acquiring an additional 233,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 68.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 436,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,499,000 after acquiring an additional 177,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $58.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $50.65 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.35.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.