Essent Group (ESNT) Competitors

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) and Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Do analysts prefer FITB or ESNT?

Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $47.53, indicating a potential upside of 8.61%. Essent Group has a consensus price target of $63.71, indicating a potential upside of 13.86%. Given Essent Group's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Essent Group is more favorable than Fifth Third Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fifth Third Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.84
Essent Group	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Does the media prefer FITB or ESNT?

In the previous week, Fifth Third Bancorp had 5 more articles in the media than Essent Group. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Fifth Third Bancorp and 11 mentions for Essent Group. Fifth Third Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat Essent Group's score of 0.67 indicating that Fifth Third Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fifth Third Bancorp	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Essent Group	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FITB or ESNT more profitable?

Essent Group has a net margin of 57.29% compared to Fifth Third Bancorp's net margin of 17.65%. Fifth Third Bancorp's return on equity of 13.64% beat Essent Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fifth Third Bancorp	17.65%	13.64%	1.14%
Essent Group	57.29%	12.98%	10.28%

Is FITB or ESNT a better dividend stock?

Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essent Group pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 47.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essent Group pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Fifth Third Bancorp has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Essent Group has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Fifth Third Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, FITB or ESNT?

Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essent Group has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in FITB or ESNT?

83.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.0% of Essent Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Essent Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better valuation and earnings, FITB or ESNT?

Fifth Third Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Essent Group. Essent Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fifth Third Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fifth Third Bancorp	$13.28B	2.20	$2.31B	$3.15	13.89
Essent Group	$1.24B	4.57	$729.40M	$6.83	8.19

Summary

Fifth Third Bancorp beats Essent Group on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.