Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT)

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $67.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 18.95% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Essent Group from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Essent Group from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.57.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ESNT traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,381,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 781,614. Essent Group has a one year low of $51.69 and a one year high of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.16 and a 200 day moving average of $59.02.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $315.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.88 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 60.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NFC Investments LLC raised its stake in Essent Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 56,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Essent Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Essent Group by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Essent Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,584,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.