Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Plans Dividend Increase - $0.31 Per Share

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.31 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Essent Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.0% annually over the last three years. Essent Group has a dividend payout ratio of 17.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.2%.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Essent Group stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.85. 924,661 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,064. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $51.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The firm has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.99.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.57.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.