Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.38.

Several research analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $60,678,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $20,097,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 982.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 363,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,172,000 after acquiring an additional 329,568 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,118,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,903,000 after acquiring an additional 289,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,326,000 after acquiring an additional 258,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $54.21 on Thursday. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $40.33 and a 52-week high of $59.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The company had revenue of $297.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 17.23%.

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.