JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut its price target on Essent from $65 to $64 and retained a "neutral" rating, implying only about a 3.5% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst coverage is mixed — five Buy vs. six Hold — leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" with an average price target of $67.86.
• Essent recently missed quarterly EPS (reported $1.60 vs. $1.74 estimate) and is trading near $61.82 with a PE of ~9 and a market cap of about $5.8 billion.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $65.00 to $64.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the financial services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential upside of 3.52% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.86.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of ESNT stock traded up $0.67 on Thursday, hitting $61.82. 117,882 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 736,287. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $60.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $52.92 and a twelve month high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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