Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $67.71 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.7143.

Several brokerages have commented on ESNT. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:ESNT opened at $66.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.05 and a 200 day moving average of $61.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $68.62.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company 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 business posted $1.69 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 39,837 shares of company stock valued at $2,591,612 in the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.