Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target Lowered to $72.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price target trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $75.00 to $72.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESNT has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.71.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.5 %

ESNT stock opened at $55.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.24. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $50.65 and a 1 year high of $65.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 726.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 167.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.