Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.8571.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,733.80. This trade represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,983 shares of company stock valued at $7,491,977. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Essent Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 19,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 10.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $66.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.