Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $71.17 and last traded at $71.39, with a volume of 19,488 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.75.

Essent Group Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.04.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total value of $376,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,055,788.76. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total value of $332,350.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,714.31. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 19,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.