Advisors Preferred LLC Takes $2.86 Million Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 46,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,864,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 160.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 882.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT opened at $60.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $67.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.52.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ESNT. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.33.

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.