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

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.4286.

ESNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on 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. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ESNT opened at $57.92 on Thursday. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $67.09. The firm has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.00. 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 (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 20.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group by 45.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 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.