Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Share Price Crosses Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)’s share price crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.75 and traded as high as $67.70. Essent Group shares last traded at $67.5360, with a volume of 843,636 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Essent Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.92.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total transaction of $376,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 29,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,055,788.76. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 70,146 shares of company stock valued at $4,900,365 in the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at $798,836,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $107,114,521. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,068,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,041,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $24,746,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essent Group

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.