Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $61.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) had its target price cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $64.00 to $61.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered Essent Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essent Group from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $58.75.

Essent Group Trading Up 2.3 %

ESNT traded up $1.23 on Monday, reaching $55.78. The stock had a trading volume of 644,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,330. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $55.21 and a 200-day moving average of $52.58. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $42.46 and a fifty-two week high of $59.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The company had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Essent Group by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at $126,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.