Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target Increased to $63.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ESNT. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $64.33.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $59.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.02 and its 200 day moving average is $56.03. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $45.63 and a 1-year high of $64.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The company had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total value of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 50,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 19,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after buying an additional 4,427 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Provident Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $287,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.