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

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st,RTT News reports. Investors 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 yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd.

Essent Group has raised its dividend by an average of 16.0% per year over the last three years. Essent Group has a payout ratio of 16.1% meaning 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 Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $57.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.12. Essent Group has a fifty-two week low of $47.56 and a fifty-two week high of $65.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.53.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced 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 $1.73 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 60.15% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.80 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Essent Group’s revenue was up 969.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.59, for a total value of $127,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,203.44. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% 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.