Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $59.38 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.88.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $709,229,000 after purchasing an additional 440,385 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Essent Group by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $212,326,000 after buying an additional 258,246 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,496,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,938,000 after buying an additional 25,483 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $74,220,000 after buying an additional 120,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $60,678,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $55.16. 358,006 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 507,973. The firm's 50-day moving average is $56.01 and its 200 day moving average is $54.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $45.63 and a 1-year high of $59.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 61.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.94%.

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.