Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.57.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 163.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 44,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,872,000 after buying an additional 27,717 shares during the last quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Essent Group by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 65,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 18,597 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $56.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $51.69 and a 12 month high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.