Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Raised to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group to “Buy” from “Hold,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold” with an average price target of $71.86.
• Essent shares opened at $69.53, near their 12-month high of $70.00, after the company reported quarterly earnings of $2.08 per share and revenue of $362.69 million.
• Institutional investors own approximately 93% of Essent’s stock, while insiders have sold 40,320 shares worth about $2.63 million over the past quarter.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ESNT. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $69.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.96 and a 200-day moving average of $61.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 198,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,891,430. This trade represents a 0.24% 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. Insiders have sold 40,320 shares of company stock worth $2,625,422 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $2,401,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $2,084,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $411,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,187,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,953,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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