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

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.8571.

Several research firms have recently commented on ESNT. Barclays increased their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT opened at $69.32 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.16. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $55.34 and a 52-week high of $70.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 98,848 shares of company stock worth $6,726,789. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essent Group

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.