Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.50.

ESNT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Essent Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 32,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 726.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $64.54 on Thursday. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $45.63 and a 1-year high of $65.33. The stock has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.85.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The company had revenue of $272.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

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.