Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Price Target Lowered to $67.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $68.00 to $67.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.83.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of ESNT traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $53.34. The company had a trading volume of 187,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,242. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $47.56 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Essent Group will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 16.23%.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. This represents a 0.00 % 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 this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 10.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,680,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,973,000 after acquiring an additional 445,853 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,917,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $709,229,000 after purchasing an additional 440,385 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 94.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 739,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,019,000 after buying an additional 358,621 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 436,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,499,000 after buying an additional 177,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,742,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.