Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target Raised to $73.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price target lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $66.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.92. Essent Group has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $67.09. 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 firm had revenue of $311.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,448,325.12. This trade represents a 12.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 27.8% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.