Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.23 EPS

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The business had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock traded down $1.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 743,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,035. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $45.63 and a 12-month high of $64.05. The company has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $57.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.88.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 16.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ESNT shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.88.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,525.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.