Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Has Average Target Price of $72.00

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.14.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. BTIG Research began coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, September 18th.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.0%

ESNT opened at $64.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.53. 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 has a 12-month low of $55.34 and a 12-month high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 21,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,714.31. This trade represents a 18.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $55,867.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,038,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,742,898.93. This trade represents a 0.04% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 70,146 shares of company stock worth $4,900,365. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 790.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 111.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position 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 valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 443 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. 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.