Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Upgraded at Royal Bank Of Canada

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) was upgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.86.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $60.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $55.22 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.80. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,312,124. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $276,292.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 233,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,169,173.36. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 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.