Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.71.

ESNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $55.01 on Tuesday. Essent Group has a one year low of $50.65 and a one year high of $65.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.26. The company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Essent Group by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,973,000 after purchasing an additional 445,853 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,425,000 after buying an additional 59,750 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,551,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,723,000 after buying an additional 12,431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,662,000 after acquiring an additional 99,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 750,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,268,000 after acquiring an additional 10,684 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.