Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Sees Strong Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Essent Group shares saw unusually high trading volume after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded the stock from market perform to outperform and raised its price target to $73.
• The broader analyst picture remains mixed, with the stock carrying an overall Hold rating and a consensus price target of $66.43 despite some buy ratings and recent target adjustments from other firms.
• Essent recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.82 versus the $1.68 estimate, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, yielding about 2.4%.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded the stock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods now has a $73.00 price target on the stock. Approximately 1,051,457 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 47% from the previous session's volume of 717,005 shares.The stock last traded at $57.1930 and had previously closed at $57.17.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $144,312,124. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. The trade was a 3.11% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 78.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Essent Group by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,173,000 after buying an additional 372,881 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Essent Group by 152.3% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,682,000 after buying an additional 275,149 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.0%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $60.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.60. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The business 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.94%.

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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