Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $67.86 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.8571.

ESNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $63.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $55.11 and a 52 week high of $67.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.61.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. 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 analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.35 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 20.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total value of $480,640.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Essent Group by 97.1% in 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 in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.