Essent Group downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays

Barclays downgraded Essent Group to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $58, down from $69. Heading into 2025, the firm favors consumer finance stocks “with positive catalysts that have not been fully priced in and could drive additional upside. Mortgage credit should remain benign, but credit normalization has begun more meaningfully as vintages continue to season, which means the default rate could accelerate in upcoming quarters, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Barclays says this “should keep a lid on valuations” and limit outperformance in 2025, hence its downgrade of Essent Group (ESNT) and NMI Holdings (NMIH).