Barclays Lowers Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $69.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESNT has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $55.24 on Monday. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $47.56 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.12.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 16.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total transaction of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of 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. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 2.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essent Group in the first quarter worth approximately $409,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 94.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 739,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,019,000 after acquiring an additional 358,621 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 93,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.