Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $65.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.00.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group in the first quarter worth approximately $977,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $780,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,644,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 65.3% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE ESNT opened at $55.50 on Monday. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $47.56 and a 1 year high of $65.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.44.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.23%.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.