Head-To-Head Survey: Essent Group (ESNT) vs. Its Rivals

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) is one of 341 publicly-traded companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Essent Group to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Essent Group and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essent Group	$1.26 billion	$689.97 million	9.58
Essent Group Competitors	$6.34 billion	$1.09 billion	8.20

Essent Group’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Essent Group. Essent Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.0% of Essent Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.0% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Essent Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.9% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Essent Group has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essent Group’s competitors have a beta of 2.51, suggesting that their average stock price is 151% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Essent Group pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group pays out 19.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Financial Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.2% and pay out -94.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Essent Group has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Essent Group lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Essent Group and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essent Group	0	7	3	0	2.30
Essent Group Competitors	1977	6923	11684	444	2.50

Essent Group currently has a consensus price target of $70.75, indicating a potential upside of 3.02%. As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential downside of 6.45%. Given Essent Group’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Essent Group is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Essent Group and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essent Group	51.45%	11.91%	9.09%
Essent Group Competitors	-412.58%	-39.71%	-5.80%

Summary

Essent Group competitors beat Essent Group on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It serves the originators of residential mortgage loans, such as regulated depository institutions, mortgage banks, credit unions, and other lenders. Essent Group Ltd. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.