Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) PT Raised to $58.00 at UBS Group

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $57.00 to $58.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essent Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $59.25.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $56.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $43.27 and a 1-year high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The company had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,525.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Walleye Trading LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.7% in the first quarter. Walleye Trading LLC now owns 5,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Essent Group by 38.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,542,000 after purchasing an additional 49,393 shares in the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 33,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,742,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.