Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target Lowered to $61.00 at Barclays

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Barclays from $63.00 to $61.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.04% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.14.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Essent Group stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $59.20. 38,610 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 742,556. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $51.61 and a 1 year high of $67.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.49 and its 200 day moving average is $61.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.59, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.87.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% during 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 last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,173,000 after buying an additional 372,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,223,000 after buying an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. 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.