Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.38.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $409,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 65,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,872,000 after purchasing an additional 30,149 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 39,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 10,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 221.3% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 10,346 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:ESNT opened at $53.59 on Thursday. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $40.33 and a 1 year high of $59.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.24, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.04.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $297.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Essent Group’s revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.23%.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.