Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $58.75 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.25.

A number of research analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ESNT opened at $56.16 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.32. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $43.27 and a 52-week high of $59.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 16.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.