Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) to Issue $0.28 Quarterly Dividend

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%.

Essent Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 16.0% annually over the last three years. Essent Group has a payout ratio of 15.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.6%.

Essent Group Stock Down 10.4 %

Shares of ESNT traded down $6.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,943,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,223. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.12 and a 200 day moving average of $59.25. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group has a 52 week low of $47.37 and a 52 week high of $65.33.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,596,103.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,103.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.