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

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

Essent Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 16.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. Essent Group has a 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.54. The company had a trading volume of 555,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,395. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05. Essent Group has a one year low of $40.33 and a one year high of $59.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.43.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.