Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Now Covered by Analysts at BTIG Research

Investment analysts at BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNTGet Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The firm set a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

View Our Latest Stock Report on ESNT

Essent Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of ESNT stock traded up $0.48 on Tuesday, hitting $66.95. The stock had a trading volume of 20,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,096. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.63 and a 200 day moving average of $62.95. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $55.34 and a 12-month high of $70.37. The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNTGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total value of $332,350.27. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,714.31. The trade was a 18.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,983 shares of company stock valued at $7,491,977. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Essent Group by 790.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

(Get Free Report)

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.

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Analyst Recommendations for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT)

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