Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is neutral: Ten brokerages give Essent Group an average “Hold” rating, with six holds and four buys. The average 12-month price target is $67.71, near the stock’s reported $67.41 price.
• Recent financial results exceeded expectations: Essent reported quarterly EPS of $1.82 versus the $1.68 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $336.07 million, up 5.8% year over year and above estimates.
• Shareholder returns and ownership activity remain notable: The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35, representing a 2.1% yield, while institutional investors own 93% of outstanding shares. Insiders sold $2.59 million of stock over the past 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.7143.

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $67.41 on Wednesday. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $61.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.27. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $67.71. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $336.07 million for 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%. Essent Group's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. Analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group's payout ratio is 19.94%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was 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. This trade 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. Insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock worth $2,591,612 in the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,173,000 after purchasing an additional 372,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Essent Group by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,682,000 after buying an additional 275,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

About Essent Group

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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