Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $69.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $33,810.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 198,449 shares in the company, valued at $13,891,430. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,320 shares of company stock worth $2,625,422. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.