Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Hits New 52-Week High at $62.68

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.68 and last traded at $62.27, with a volume of 163320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.88.

Essent Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.47.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.69 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 61.40% and a return on equity of 14.24%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 16.94%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total value of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Essent Group news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total transaction of $140,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,525.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 11,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.14, for a total transaction of $672,846.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 199,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,989,450.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $709,229,000 after purchasing an additional 440,385 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Essent Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,025,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,326,000 after purchasing an additional 258,246 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,496,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,938,000 after purchasing an additional 25,483 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 10.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,220,000 after purchasing an additional 120,881 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $60,678,000. 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.