Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jun 14th, 2026

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.4286.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 4th.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Essent Group

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $58.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $55.22 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.78.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at $144,312,124. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. EMG Holdings L.P. acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at $3,506,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at $7,566,000. South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in Essent Group by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 31,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 6,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Essent Group by 92.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 10,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 5,116 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essent Group

(Get Free Report)

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.