Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.37% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.67.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE ESNT opened at $66.14 on Thursday. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $66.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.55 and its 200 day moving average is $60.79.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The company had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.84 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,448,325.12. This trade represents a 12.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 19.6% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,223,000 after buying an additional 318,318 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% in 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,596,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 worth $76,173,000 after purchasing an additional 372,881 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,116,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,983,000 after purchasing an additional 36,586 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.