JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $64.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $65.00 to $64.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESNT has been the topic of several other reports. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.86.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $60.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.62. 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 has a 12-month low of $52.92 and a 12-month high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.