Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.4286.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased 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.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:ESNT opened at $57.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.00.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 20.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 5,559 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $302,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 20,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after buying an additional 9,964 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $487,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in Essent Group by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 513,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,393,000 after buying an additional 75,762 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.