Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. 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 report on Monday, October 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price 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 downgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE ESNT opened at $67.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. Essent Group has a one year low of $55.34 and a one year high of $70.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,921,148.37. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This represents a 7.14% 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 have sold a total of 70,146 shares of company stock worth $4,900,365 in the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 796.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 28,527 shares during the period. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $107,114,521. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,187,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,082,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,161,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

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.