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

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.38.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,453,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,720,000 after purchasing an additional 14,145 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 6,932.3% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 47,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 46,516 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,576,000 after purchasing an additional 35,484 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 533.4% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 257,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 216,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter worth $534,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $54.21 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $54.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $40.33 and a 1-year high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The company had revenue of $297.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $286.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.23%.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.