Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $67.38 and last traded at $67.2330, with a volume of 38269 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.71.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.22.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,779 shares of company stock worth $4,198,358. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 372,881 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Essent Group by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,682,000 after purchasing an additional 275,149 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.