Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Lowered to Neutral Rating by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $65.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $66.00.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ESNT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Essent Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. DOWLING & PARTN cut shares of Essent Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.5%

ESNT stock opened at $60.03 on Tuesday. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $65.90. The company has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 56.36%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total value of $158,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,574,700.45. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,647,050.48. This trade represents a 19.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,190 shares of company stock worth $1,802,316. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 330.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. 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.