Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 2nd

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd.

Essent Group has increased its dividend by an average of 16.0% annually over the last three years. Essent Group has a dividend payout ratio of 16.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.9%.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $57.79 on Friday. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $47.56 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.51. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.12.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 969.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.