Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.14 EPS

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. Essent Group had a net margin of 62.75% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The firm had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ESNT traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.54. 555,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 491,395. Essent Group has a 52-week low of $40.33 and a 52-week high of $59.90. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.43.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Essent Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essent Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.38.

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.