Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $67.71 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.7143.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock worth $2,591,612. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 78.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 45.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,173,000 after purchasing an additional 372,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Essent Group by 152.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,682,000 after purchasing an additional 275,149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $66.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $62.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $68.62.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.94%.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.