Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $67.71 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNTGet Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.7143.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Essent Group

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock valued at $2,591,612 over the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT stock opened at $66.60 on Wednesday. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $68.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNTGet 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 the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The company had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.94%.

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT)

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