Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target to $71.00

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $72.00 to $71.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.13% from the company’s current price.

ESNT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on 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 lowered 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. Barclays cut shares of 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.57.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $55.85 on Tuesday. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $51.69 and a twelve month high of $65.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $56.18 and its 200-day moving average is $58.99.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 58.69%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 shares of Essent Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,367,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $673,265,000 after buying an additional 432,034 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Essent Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,168,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,382,000 after acquiring an additional 200,284 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Essent Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,425,000 after purchasing an additional 59,750 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,700,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,988,000 after acquiring an additional 350,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Essent Group by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,370,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,049,000 after acquiring an additional 221,950 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.