Analysts Set Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target at $62.57

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.57.

Several research firms have commented on ESNT. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ESNT stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.34. 405,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 807,661. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.27. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $52.22 and a 1-year high of $65.33.

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Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The company's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is 18.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 15.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 22.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 750,778 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,684 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 561.3% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 56,983 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,663,000 after buying an additional 48,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.