Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $67.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) had its target price cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $73.00 to $67.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.83.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.6 %

ESNT traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $54.11. 1,488,295 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 506,853. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $47.56 and a 1 year high of $65.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. Essent Group's quarterly revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Essent Group's payout ratio is currently 16.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $725,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Essent Group by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 177,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,542,000 after buying an additional 49,393 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter worth about $780,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $977,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $709,229,000 after acquiring an additional 440,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

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.