Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $70.37 and last traded at $70.0740, with a volume of 27584 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 54,495 shares of company stock worth $3,617,672 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $798,836,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $155,516,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $107,114,521,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,068,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.