Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $66.50 and last traded at $66.30, with a volume of 118054 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.7%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.76. The stock has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $311.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $746,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 196,922 shares in the company, valued at $12,799,930. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $260,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 243,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,796,495. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 18,729 shares of company stock valued at $1,205,815 in the last ninety days. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth $27,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Essent Group by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.