Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Given “Outperform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $67.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ESNT. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.57.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $56.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.02. Essent Group has a 1-year low of $51.69 and a 1-year high of $65.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.09). Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The business had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,367,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $673,265,000 after acquiring an additional 432,034 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,168,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,382,000 after buying an additional 200,284 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,425,000 after buying an additional 59,750 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 14.9% during 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 buying an additional 350,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,370,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,049,000 after buying an additional 221,950 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.