Essent Group Ltd ESNT reported first-quarter 2020 operating net income per share of $1.52 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 23.6%. The bottom line increased 16.9% year over year.Operational UpdateEssent Group recorded total operating revenues of $229 million, which increased 13.9% year over year on higher net investment income (up 3.8%) and net premiums earned (up 16.1%).Insurance in force increased 15.6% to $165.6 billion.Persistency, the percentage of insurance remaining in force from one year prior, was 73.9% as of Mar 31, 2020, down 360 basis points (bps) year over year.New insurance written was $13.5 billion, up 22.7% year over year.Total expenses increased 2.6% year over year to $52.1 million.In the quarter under review, loss ratio was 3.9%, which improved 100 basis points year over year.Essent Group Ltd Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Essent Group Ltd price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Essent Group Ltd QuoteFinancial UpdateEssent Group had $31.1 million in cash, down 56.5% from 2019 end. Total stockholders' equity increased to $3.1 billion, up from nearly $3 billion at 2019 end.Essent Group had $225 million of term debt outstanding as on Mar 31, 2020 and maintained $75 million of undrawn capacity under the revolving component of its credit facility.Adjusted book value per share was $30.89 as of Mar 31, 2020.Return on equity deteriorated 120 basis points to 19.6% at quarter end from 20.8% at 2019 end.Combined risk-to-capital ratio of the U.S. mortgage insurance business, which includes statutory capital for both Essent Guaranty and Essent Guaranty of PA, was 11.7:1 as of Mar 31, 2020.Operating cash flow was $163 million in the reported quarter.Capital DeploymentThe board of directors of Essent Group announced a quarterly cash dividend of 16 cents per share. The dividend will be paid out on Jun 12, 2020, to shareholders of record as of Jun 2.Zacks RankEssent Group currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Other Insurance ReleasesAmong other players from the insurance industry that have reported first-quarter earnings so far, the bottom line of Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate while that of RLI Corp. RLI and Travelers Companies TRV missed the same.Just Released: Zacks’ 7 Best Stocks for TodayExperts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +24.1% per year. These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout.See these time-sensitive tickers now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Travelers Companies Inc (TRV): Free Stock Analysis Report RLI Corp (RLI): Free Stock Analysis Report Brown Brown Inc (BRO): Free Stock Analysis Report Essent Group Ltd (ESNT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research