Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America lowered Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.75.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $68.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $55.34 and a 52-week high of $70.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.97.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given 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 2.1%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at $12,899,180. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total value of $332,350.27. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,714.31. This represents a 18.46% 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 sold a total of 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 7.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.6% in the 1st 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. Provident Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.