Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $69.33 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.3333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESNT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT stock opened at $59.20 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.47. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.91.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,939,032. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $752,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.