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

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.6667.

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.9%

ESNT stock opened at $66.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.90. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The business had revenue of $311.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,448,325.12. The trade was a 12.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.