Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Announces $0.28 Quarterly Dividend

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.28 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd.

Essent Group has increased its dividend by an average of 16.0% annually over the last three years. Essent Group has a dividend payout ratio of 16.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.9%.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1 %

ESNT opened at $57.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $47.56 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.51.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. This represents a 7.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESNT. Barclays decreased their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

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.