Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) was upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $73.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 30.78% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.43.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $55.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.63. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $55.22 and a 52-week high of $67.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.78.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The firm had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,312,124. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total value of $480,640.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Essent Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 51,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

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.