Reviewing Essent Group (ESNT) & Its Competitors

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) is one of 341 public companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Essent Group to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Essent Group and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essent Group	0	7	2	1	2.40
Essent Group Competitors	1989	6952	11724	446	2.50

Essent Group currently has a consensus price target of $70.62, suggesting a potential upside of 7.68%. As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential downside of 6.81%. Given Essent Group’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Essent Group is more favorable than its peers.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.0% of Essent Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.2% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Essent Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.0% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Essent Group has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essent Group’s peers have a beta of 2.51, indicating that their average share price is 151% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Essent Group pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group pays out 19.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Financial Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.1% and pay out -92.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Essent Group has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Essent Group lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Essent Group and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essent Group	51.45%	11.91%	9.09%
Essent Group Competitors	-412.58%	-39.71%	-5.80%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Essent Group and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essent Group	$1.26 billion	$689.97 million	8.96
Essent Group Competitors	$6.73 billion	$1.10 billion	10.10

Essent Group’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Essent Group. Essent Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Essent Group peers beat Essent Group on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It serves the originators of residential mortgage loans, such as regulated depository institutions, mortgage banks, credit unions, and other lenders. Essent Group Ltd. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.