Analysts Set Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target at $62.57

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.57.

ESNT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Essent Group by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Essent Group by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 53.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.7 %

ESNT stock opened at $55.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $52.22 and a twelve month high of $65.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.85 and a 200 day moving average of $58.23.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.13%.

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.