Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Sets New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Essent Group shares reached a new 52-week high of $67.53, while the analyst consensus remains “Hold” with an average price target of $67.71. Recent targets range from $65 to $74.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings per share of $1.82 versus the $1.68 consensus and revenue of $336.07 million, up 5.8% year over year.
• Essent pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35, equivalent to a 2.1% annual yield, while insiders sold roughly $2.6 million of stock over the past 90 days. Institutional investors own approximately 93% of shares.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $67.53 and last traded at $67.3690, with a volume of 24810 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $66.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company's fifty day moving average is $61.60 and its 200 day moving average is $61.25. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was 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 directly owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% 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 a total of 39,837 shares of company stock valued at $2,591,612 over the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 372,881 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 152.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 275,149 shares during the last quarter. 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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