Essent Group (ESNT) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Friday

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) will issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Friday, May 3rd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.56 per share for the quarter. Persons interested in listening to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The firm had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Essent Group to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:ESNT opened at $52.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.41. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $40.33 and a 52 week high of $59.90.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.38.

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.