Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESNT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.14.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $62.85 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.44. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.37. 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 (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. The business had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $174,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,154 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,733.80. This trade represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $55,867.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,038,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,742,898.93. This 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,146 shares of company stock worth $4,900,365. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 82.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 19.9% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $822,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.