Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Sets New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Essent Group hit a new 52-week high, trading at $71.39 after a prior close of $69.34.
• Analyst views are mixed but average to “Hold”: three analysts rate the stock a Buy and seven a Hold, with an average price target of $70.75.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $2.08 on revenue of $362.69 million and pays an annualized dividend of $1.40 per share, equivalent to a 2.0% yield.

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $71.17 and last traded at $71.39, with a volume of 19,488 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Essent Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. BTIG Research started coverage on Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Roth Capital upped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.75.

Essent Group Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business's 50 day moving average is $65.71 and its 200 day moving average is $63.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,921,148.37. The trade was a 1.05% 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 sold a total of 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $798,836,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $107,114,521. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $43,068,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,041,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $24,746,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. NYSE: ESNT is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.

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