Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $72.00 According to Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.14.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,039,691 shares in the company, valued at $142,921,148.37. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $174,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,733.80. This represents a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 3,055 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:ESNT opened at $64.72 on Monday. Essent Group has a one year low of $55.34 and a one year high of $70.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.49.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The company 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. is a Bermuda-based holding company focused on private mortgage insurance and related risk-management solutions for the U.S. residential mortgage market. Through its subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on home loans.

Essent’s primary business is conducted through Essent Guaranty, Inc, which provides mortgage insurance for conventional residential mortgages, generally supporting loans made to borrowers with down payments below traditional thresholds.