Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09), Zacks reports. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The firm had revenue of $315.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Essent Group Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE ESNT opened at $56.43 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.14. Essent Group has a 12-month low of $51.69 and a 12-month high of $65.33. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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 note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.71.

About Essent Group

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.