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

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is neutral: Eight analysts give Essent Group a consensus “Hold” rating, with five holds and three buys. The average 12-month price target is $71.86, modestly above the reported $68.10 share price.
• Recent financial results and dividend support the stock: Essent reported quarterly EPS of $2.08 on $362.69 million in revenue, while analysts expect full-year EPS of $7.60. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equivalent to a 2.1% yield.
• Ownership and trading activity remain notable: Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 93% of the shares, while insiders have sold 96,348 shares worth $6.55 million over the past 90 days, including sales by the CEO and CFO under pre-arranged trading plans.

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

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,039,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $142,921,148.37. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold 96,348 shares of company stock worth $6,552,539 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. AlphaGrep UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $297,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 796.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 28,527 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $326,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $333,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at about $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $68.10 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $65.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.04. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.37. 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 company has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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