Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Declares $0.31 Quarterly Dividend

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th.

Essent Group has increased its dividend by an average of 17.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Essent Group has a payout ratio of 17.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.2%.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.81. 17,330 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 635,069. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $317.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.18 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued 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 $61.71.

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.