Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28 on June 10th

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st.

Essent Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 16.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. Essent Group has a dividend payout ratio of 15.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.6%.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.54. The company had a trading volume of 555,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,395. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.43. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $40.33 and a 12-month high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.38.

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.