Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Receives $68.43 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.4286.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $58.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $67.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 20.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,173,000 after acquiring an additional 372,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,223,000 after acquiring an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.