Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research 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 $66.5714.

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $64.08 on Friday. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $55.22 and a fifty-two week high of $67.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The business had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.94%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer 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 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, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% 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. Insiders sold a total of 65,651 shares of company stock worth $4,253,294 in the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,173,000 after acquiring an additional 372,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Essent Group by 152.3% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 275,149 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.