Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.3333.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,173,000 after buying an additional 372,881 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 19.6% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,223,000 after buying an additional 318,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $60.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.90. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $67.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.00%.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.