JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan lowered Essent Group’s price target from $72 to $66 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying approximately 6.06% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with three “Buy” ratings and six “Hold” ratings; the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $71.14.
• Essent shares recently traded at $62.23, while insiders sold approximately $4.9 million worth of stock over the past 90 days. Institutional investors own a substantial 93% of the company.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the financial services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.06% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on ESNT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Roth Capital boosted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.14.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $62.23. The company had a trading volume of 117,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 739,714. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $66.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.35.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. On average, equities analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.60 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares in the company, valued at $142,921,148.37. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total value of $332,350.27. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,714.31. The trade was a 18.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,314 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 82.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 981 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $216,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 19.9% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $822,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. is a Bermuda-based holding company focused on private mortgage insurance and related risk-management solutions for the U.S. residential mortgage market. Through its subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on home loans.

Essent's primary business is conducted through Essent Guaranty, Inc, which provides mortgage insurance for conventional residential mortgages, generally supporting loans made to borrowers with down payments below traditional thresholds.

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