Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Essent Group has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, with 6 hold ratings and 4 buy ratings; the average 12-month price target is about $66.57.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting $1.82 EPS versus $1.68 expected and revenue of $336.07 million versus $297.56 million expected. Analysts currently forecast full-year EPS of 7.25.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including the CFO and an SVP, while institutional investors own 93% of the stock. Essent also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equal to a 2.2% annualized yield.

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.5714.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ESNT. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 35,077 shares of company stock worth $2,255,620. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $64.80 on Friday. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $55.22 and a fifty-two week high of $67.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $60.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Essent Group's payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.