Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target Lowered to $72.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price target lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $75.00 to $72.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays cut shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.71.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $55.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group has a one year low of $50.65 and a one year high of $65.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.24.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 50,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 32,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 726.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.