UBS Group Cuts Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $63.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective lowered by UBS Group from $65.00 to $63.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESNT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.43.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $58.11 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Essent Group has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $67.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.91.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,939,032. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 5,559 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $302,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 20,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 9,964 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 513,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,393,000 after acquiring an additional 75,762 shares during 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.