Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.35

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.35 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, September 10th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st.

Essent Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Essent Group has a dividend payout ratio of 19.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.3%.

Essent Group Stock Up 4.7%

ESNT stock opened at $68.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $55.34 and a fifty-two week high of $70.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.56. The stock has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ESNT. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.71.

About Essent Group

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.