UPDATE: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Downgrades Essent Group Ltd. to Market Perform, Raises PT on Valuation

In a report published Friday, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Bose George downgraded the rating on Essent Group Ltd. ESNT from Outperform to Market Perform, but raised the price target from $25.00 to $26.00. In the report, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods noted, “ESNT reported GAAP and operating EPS of $0.22. The beat to us reflected the fact that we hadn't updated our share count. Pre-tax earnings of $19.4 million was largely in line with our $19.1 million estimate. Quarter-end adjusted book value was $8.32. We are leaving our 2014 and 2015 estimates unchanged but raising our price target to $26 based on a higher multiple of normalized earnings and lowering our rating to Market Perform.” Essent Group Ltd. closed on Thursday at $25.25.