DOWLING & PARTN Predicts Increased Earnings for Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) – Research analysts at DOWLING & PARTN upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Essent Group in a research note issued on Friday, August 14th. DOWLING & PARTN analyst G. Dunn now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $7.34 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $7.05. The consensus estimate for Essent Group’s current full-year earnings is $7.42 per share. DOWLING & PARTN also issued estimates for Essent Group’s FY2027 earnings at $7.40 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.75 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $69.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.21 and its 200 day moving average is $61.86. Essent Group has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $33,810.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 198,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,891,430. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% 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. Insiders sold 40,320 shares of company stock valued at $2,625,422 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

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.