Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.62.

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESNT. Bank of America cut Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Essent Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $174,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. This trade represents a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,705 shares of company stock valued at $8,352,951. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $798,836,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter worth $107,114,521. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 16.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 914,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,442,000 after buying an additional 131,823 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 18.3% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 709,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,074,000 after buying an additional 109,494 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 86.2% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 689,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,284,000 after buying an additional 319,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Essent Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Essent Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue of $374.18 million exceeded analysts’ $344.17 million estimate. Insurance in force reached $250 billion, up 1% year over year, and net income was $163 million. Essent: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Mark Casale sold 49,042 shares for about $3.49 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. He retained nearly 1.99 million shares, making the sale less informative as a signal of his outlook. Insider Selling: Essent Group CEO Sells Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays lowered its price target to $65 from $66 and maintained an “equal weight” rating, signaling limited expected upside. Essent Group Given New $65 Price Target at Barclays
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly EPS was $1.82, slightly below the $1.85 consensus estimate, tempering the positive revenue result.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:ESNT opened at $64.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.13. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.71. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $55.34 and a twelve month high of $71.84.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $374.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $344.17 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 49.08% and a return on equity of 11.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.13%.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group is a Bermuda-based provider of mortgage insurance and reinsurance, operating primarily in the United States. Its services help mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with residential home loans. Through its U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides private mortgage insurance for eligible borrowers who make smaller down payments on conventional mortgages. The coverage can help lenders reduce potential losses if a borrower defaults. Essent also provides mortgage reinsurance through its reinsurance operations.