Essent Group (ESNT) Competitors

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) and Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment and risk.

Does the media favor ESNT or PFG?

In the previous week, Principal Financial Group had 1 more articles in the media than Essent Group. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Principal Financial Group and 8 mentions for Essent Group. Principal Financial Group's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Essent Group's score of 1.42 indicating that Principal Financial Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essent Group	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Principal Financial Group	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ESNT or PFG?

Principal Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Essent Group. Essent Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Principal Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essent Group	$1.27B	4.69	$729.40M	$6.84	8.38
Principal Financial Group	$16.13B	1.20	$1.57B	$6.68	12.82

Is ESNT or PFG more profitable?

Essent Group has a net margin of 58.69% compared to Principal Financial Group's net margin of 9.74%. Principal Financial Group's return on equity of 14.68% beat Essent Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essent Group	58.69%	13.35%	10.61%
Principal Financial Group	9.74%	14.68%	0.52%

Which has more risk and volatility, ESNT or PFG?

Essent Group has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Principal Financial Group has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ESNT or PFG?

Essent Group currently has a consensus price target of $62.57, suggesting a potential upside of 9.22%. Principal Financial Group has a consensus price target of $85.92, suggesting a potential upside of 0.30%. Given Essent Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Essent Group is more favorable than Principal Financial Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essent Group	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Principal Financial Group	4 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in ESNT or PFG?

93.0% of Essent Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Essent Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ESNT or PFG a better dividend stock?

Essent Group pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Principal Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Essent Group pays out 18.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Principal Financial Group pays out 44.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ESNT or PFG?

Essent Group received 439 more outperform votes than Principal Financial Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.53% of users gave Essent Group an outperform vote while only 7.55% of users gave Principal Financial Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Essent Group	Outperform Votes 443 65.53%	Underperform Votes 233 34.47%
Principal Financial Group	Outperform Votes 4 7.55%	Underperform Votes 49 92.45%

Summary

Essent Group beats Principal Financial Group on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.