Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.38.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,678,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $20,097,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 982.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 363,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,172,000 after purchasing an additional 329,568 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,118,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,903,000 after purchasing an additional 289,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,326,000 after purchasing an additional 258,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ESNT opened at $53.65 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.37. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $40.33 and a 12-month high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $286.18 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.23%.

About Essent Group

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.