DOWLING & PARTN Forecasts Stronger Earnings for Essent Group

Key Points

• DOWLING & PARTN raised Essent Group’s FY2026 EPS forecast to $7.34 from $7.05, while projecting $7.40 for FY2027 and $7.75 for FY2028. The FY2026 estimate remains slightly below the $7.42 consensus.
• Essent Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.08 on revenue of $362.69 million, with a 51.45% net margin and 11.91% return on equity.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $71.86. Shares opened at $69.34, near their 52-week high, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35, yielding about 2.0% annually.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) - Investment analysts at DOWLING & PARTN upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Essent Group in a research note issued on Friday, August 14th. DOWLING & PARTN analyst G. Dunn now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $7.34 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $7.05. The consensus estimate for Essent Group's current full-year earnings is $7.42 per share. DOWLING & PARTN also issued estimates for Essent Group's FY2027 earnings at $7.40 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.75 EPS.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%.The firm had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Roth Capital boosted 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $69.34 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.21 and a 200 day moving average of $61.86. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.00. The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $326,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $333,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $228,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $966,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $539,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $33,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 198,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,891,430. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,320 shares of company stock worth $2,625,422. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

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.

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