Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $67.53 and last traded at $67.3690, with a volume of 24810 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $66.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.71.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were 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 directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock worth $2,591,612. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after acquiring an additional 85,295 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,628,000 after acquiring an additional 129,672 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $155,516,000. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,900,000 after purchasing an additional 13,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,864,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,183,000 after buying an additional 567,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.