Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Rating Lowered to “Equal Weight” at Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $58.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $69.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ESNT. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.14.

Essent Group Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $53.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $50.65 and a twelve month high of $65.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.31.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued 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 net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.23%.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 13,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Essent Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 60,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,294,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,021,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,662,000 after buying an additional 99,604 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 2.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,993,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter worth about $686,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.