Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Given New $61.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective dropped by Royal Bank of Canada from $64.00 to $61.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.14% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.75.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $56.41 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.64. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $42.46 and a fifty-two week high of $59.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,477,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $605,320,000 after acquiring an additional 75,825 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,326,000 after purchasing an additional 258,246 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,496,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,938,000 after purchasing an additional 25,483 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,453,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,720,000 after buying an additional 14,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,220,000 after buying an additional 120,881 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.