Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $78.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its target price lifted by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $74.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target suggests a potential upside of 13.84% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on ESNT. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $68.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.56. The stock has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.00.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,837 shares of company stock worth $2,591,612 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.