12,642 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Purchased by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 12,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 16,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 0.3% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,448,325.12. The trade was a 12.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ESNT opened at $65.87 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $67.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Essent Group Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.