Essent Group Ltd. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.28 (NYSE:ESNT)

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd.

Essent Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 16.0% annually over the last three years. Essent Group has a payout ratio of 15.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Essent Group to earn $7.19 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 15.6%.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $53.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $47.37 and a 52-week high of $65.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.94 and a 200 day moving average of $59.25.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 61.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,203.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,616,203.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $294,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,103.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESNT. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Essent Group from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.