Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st.

Essent Group has raised its dividend by an average of 16.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 5 years. Essent Group has a dividend payout ratio of 15.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.6%.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.5 %

ESNT stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 555,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,395. The company’s fifty day moving average is $55.11 and its 200-day moving average is $52.43. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $40.33 and a 1 year high of $59.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 62.75%. The company had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESNT. StockNews.com cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.38.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.