The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $60.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 12.19% from the company’s current price.

ESNT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $53.48. The company had a trading volume of 406,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,209. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $47.56 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.36. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 EPS 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 company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 156.7% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 34,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 21,034 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 246.7% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 15,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 10,700 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 32.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 60,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,905,000 after buying an additional 14,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $709,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.