Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Shareholders Set to Receive $0.35 Quarterly Dividend

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, December 10th. 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 has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Essent Group has a dividend payout ratio of 19.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.0%.

Essent Group Stock Down 7.6%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT traded down $5.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,119,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 750,659. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.70 and a 200-day moving average of $63.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.71. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $55.34 and a 12-month high of $71.84.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.03). Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $374.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $344.17 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.