Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.38.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Essent Group during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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’s 50 day moving average is $55.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $40.33 and a twelve month high of $59.90.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. 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.