Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Essent Group, with five hold ratings and three buys. The average 12-month price target is $71.86, compared with the stock’s $67.72 opening price.
• Essent Group reported quarterly earnings of $2.08 per share on $362.69 million in revenue, while analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $7.60.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equivalent to a $1.40 annualized dividend and a 2.1% yield; insiders have sold more than $7.1 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.8571.

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Roth Capital lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,101,733.80. This represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,483 shares of company stock valued at $7,115,007. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 19.9% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $822,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 427.2% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 34,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 28,022 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 67,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,526,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $67.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. Analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. NYSE: ESNT is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent's principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.

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