Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target Raised to $65.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $62.00 to $65.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on ESNT. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.0%

ESNT opened at $68.28 on Monday. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.70. The company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%.The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.42 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock valued at $2,591,612 in the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after buying an additional 85,295 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,983,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 132.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 24,139 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,485,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,136,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.