Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.2857.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESNT. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,939,032. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,596,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after buying an additional 669,577 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Essent Group by 45.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position 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 worth $123,223,000 after acquiring an additional 318,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Essent Group by 152.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 275,149 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT stock opened at $63.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.96. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.05%.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.