JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Price

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price target cut by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $65.00 to $64.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.52% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ESNT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.86.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $61.82. 117,882 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 736,287. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.67. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $52.92 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The firm has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.87.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at $346,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 160.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.