Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Upgraded at Royal Bank Of Canada

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.86.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $60.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.46 and its 200 day moving average is $61.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $55.22 and a 52-week high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,312,124. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at $14,970,293.86. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter worth $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.