Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.3333.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE ESNT opened at $60.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $67.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,939,032. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.