BTIG Research Raises Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $64.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective boosted by BTIG Research from $61.00 to $64.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $64.33.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Essent Group stock opened at $59.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.11. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $45.63 and a 1-year high of $64.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.03.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $272.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.33 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.69 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Essent Group by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $176,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.