Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Given New $66.00 Price Target at Barclays

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $65.00 to $66.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESNT has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $61.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.22. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. As a group, analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares in the company, valued at $142,921,148.37. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $174,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 19,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 10.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 49,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 11.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. is a Bermuda-based holding company focused on private mortgage insurance and related risk-management solutions for the U.S. residential mortgage market. Through its subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on home loans.

Essent’s primary business is conducted through Essent Guaranty, Inc, which provides mortgage insurance for conventional residential mortgages, generally supporting loans made to borrowers with down payments below traditional thresholds.