Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.31

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th.

Essent Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Essent Group has a payout ratio of 17.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.2%.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 571,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,509. Essent Group has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $65.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.30.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.71.

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.