Brokerages Set Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) PT at $64.33

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.33.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $294,050.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 167.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $605,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,748,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $526,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 68.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 436,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,499,000 after purchasing an additional 177,700 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $63.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 175,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 503,937. The company has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.69. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $45.63 and a 52-week high of $64.05.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The company had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.33 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. Essent Group's revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

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.