Brokerages Set Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) PT at $64.33

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.33.

A number of research analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $63.35 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.17. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $45.63 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.94%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,188 shares of company stock valued at $1,094,076. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 38.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,542,000 after acquiring an additional 49,393 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at $780,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter valued at about $977,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,477,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $605,320,000 after purchasing an additional 75,825 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.