Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $64.71 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.14.

ESNT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lowered Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Essent Group Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $53.58 on Tuesday. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $50.65 and a 12-month high of $65.33. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.29.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 16.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in Essent Group by 154.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,431,000 after purchasing an additional 126,899 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,973,000 after acquiring an additional 445,853 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $605,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Essent Group by 163.4% in 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 period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter worth $526,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.