Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $72.00 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a cautious outlook: Six of nine analysts rate Essent Group “Hold,” while three rate it “Buy,” resulting in a consensus target price of $72.00 versus the reported share price of $62.48.
• Essent Group reported quarterly earnings of $2.08 per share on $362.69 million in revenue, with a 51.45% net margin and analysts forecasting full-year EPS of $7.60.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35, equivalent to $1.40 annually and a 2.2% yield. Insiders sold about $4.9 million of stock over the past three months, while institutional investors own 93% of shares.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

ESNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $62.48 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 8.71, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $66.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The firm 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 7.60 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,039,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $142,921,148.37. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 30,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. This represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 70,146 shares of company stock worth $4,900,365 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth $55,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 111.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised 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 buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Essent Group

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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