Barclays Boosts Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $72.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its target price raised by Barclays from $64.00 to $72.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESNT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $66.50.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $62.73 on Tuesday. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $45.63 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.68.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.31% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The firm had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,188 shares of company stock worth $1,094,076. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 726.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Essent Group by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Essent Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 25,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.