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. It serves the originators of residential mortgage loans, such as regulated depository institutions, mortgage banks, credit unions, and other lenders. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESNT. StockNews.com downgraded Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 10th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Essent Group to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.
Essent Group Trading Up 1.9 %
Shares of ESNT opened at $43.74 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $40.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.63. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-month high of $50.17. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 5.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.18.
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.65. Essent Group had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 85.02%. The business had revenue of $244.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Essent Group Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 31st. Essent Group's payout ratio is 10.29%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Essent Group news, Director Aditya Dutt sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.95, for a total transaction of $251,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,514.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Aditya Dutt sold 6,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.95, for a total value of $251,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,023 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,514.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.75, for a total value of $100,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,111,802.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.