Essent Group (ESNT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Essent Group Ltd (NYSE: ESNT) is a leading private mortgage insurance provider in the United States. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, Inc., the company offers credit risk mitigation solutions to mortgage lenders by insuring residential mortgage loans. Essent’s core business activity centers on primary mortgage insurance for purchase and refinance transactions, allowing borrowers to access financing with reduced down payment requirements and holding down the overall cost of homeownership.

In addition to primary mortgage insurance, Essent Group engages in reinsurance and structured credit transactions designed to transfer mortgage credit risk from originators and investors. The company leverages data analytics, underwriting expertise and proprietary risk models to assess borrower credit profiles and facilitate risk-sharing agreements with financial institutions. Essent also participates in tailored risk transfer transactions with government-sponsored enterprises and other market participants, seeking to enhance the liquidity and stability of the U.S. housing finance system.

Founded in 2008 in the wake of the mortgage market downturn, Essent Group was established to bring private capital and innovative risk management techniques to the mortgage insurance industry. Headquartered in New Jersey, the company underwrites loans across the entirety of the United States, serving a diverse base of national and regional mortgage lenders, banks and credit unions. Essent’s expansion over the past decade has included investments in technology, data science and operational infrastructure to support a rigorous approach to credit risk assessment.

Essent Group’s leadership team is headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Bradley W. Whitson, who has overseen the company’s growth since its inception. The senior management team features seasoned professionals in underwriting, risk management and capital markets, all committed to upholding strong financial strength ratings and maintaining disciplined underwriting standards. With an emphasis on innovation and responsive service, Essent continues to play a significant role in the U.S. housing finance ecosystem.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $55.57 to $56.38
• 50-Day Range: $55.69 to $61.90
• 52-Week Range: $51.61 to $65.34
• Volume: 659,486 shs
• Average Volume: 677,138 shs
• Market Capitalization: $5.65 billion
• P/E Ratio: 8.15
• Dividend Yield: 2.23%
• Price Target: $63.71
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Essent Group Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Essent Group scored higher than 97% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 47th out of 915 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Essent Group has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.57, and is based on 4 buy ratings, 3 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Essent Group has been the subject of 6 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 4.65%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Essent Group are expected to grow by 4.65% in the coming year, from $6.88 to $7.20 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Essent Group is 8.15, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 26.55.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Essent Group is 8.15, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 19.16.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Essent Group has a PEG Ratio of 8.13. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Essent Group has a P/B Ratio of 1.06. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.77% of the float of Essent Group has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Essent Group has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.6, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Essent Group has recently decreased by 19.53%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Essent Group pays a meaningful dividend of 2.23%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Essent Group has been increasing its dividend for 6 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Essent Group is 18.16%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Essent Group will have a dividend payout ratio of 17.22% next year. This indicates that Essent Group will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 1.8 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.45

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.77% of the float of Essent Group has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Essent Group has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.6, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Essent Group has recently decreased by 19.53%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.8 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.12

News Sentiment

Essent Group has a news sentiment score of 1.12. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.77 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 9 news articles for Essent Group this week, compared to 6 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Essent Group insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $581,386.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 2.90% of the stock of Essent Group is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

93.00% of the stock of Essent Group is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

ESNT Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have ESNT shares performed this year?

Essent Group's stock was trading at $54.44 at the beginning of the year. Since then, ESNT stock has increased by 2.3% and is now trading at $55.69.

How were Essent Group's earnings last quarter?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) issued its earnings results on Friday, May, 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.03. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

Who are Essent Group's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Essent Group include Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (0.04%), Wedge Capital Management L L P NC (0.04%), State of Alaska Department of Revenue (0.04%) and Diversified Trust Co (0.02%). Insiders that own company stock include Mary Lourdes Gibbons, Vijay Bhasin, David B Weinstock, Douglas J Pauls, Roy James Kasmar and Aditya Dutt.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Essent Group?

Shares of ESNT stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Essent Group own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Essent Group investors own include American Water Works (AWK), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), Waste Connections (WCN), The RMR Group (RMR), AU Optronics (AUOTY), iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) and Triple Flag Precious Metals (TFPM).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 5/09/2025
• Record date for 6/10 Dividend: 5/30/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 6/10 Dividend: 5/30/2025
• Dividend Payable: 6/10/2025
• Today: 7/20/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 8/08/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: INS - PROP&CASLTY
• Sub-Industry: Insurance
• Current Symbol: NYSE:ESNT
• CIK: 1448893
• Web: www.essentgroup.com
• Phone: (441) 297-9901
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 350
• Year Founded: 2008

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Essent Group: $63.71
• High Price Target: $69.00
• Low Price Target: $59.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +14.4%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.57
• Research Coverage: 7 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $6.83
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 8.15
• Forward P/E Ratio: 8.09
• P/E Growth: 8.13
• Net Income: $729.40 million
• Net Margins: 57.29%
• Pretax Margin: 67.25%
• Return on Equity: 12.98%
• Return on Assets: 10.28%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 1.32
• Quick Ratio: 1.32

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.24 billion
• Price / Sales: 4.54
• Cash Flow: $7.11 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 7.83
• Book Value: $52.76 per share
• Price / Book: 1.06

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 101,400,000
• Free Float: 98,461,000
• Market Cap: $5.65 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.81