Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Position Trimmed by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors decreased its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 70.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 363,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 863,827 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned about 0.38% of Essent Group worth $23,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after buying an additional 85,295 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 437,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,832,000 after buying an additional 76,855 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 132.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 24,139 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 485,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,550,000 after buying an additional 62,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,123,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $276,292.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 233,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,169,173.36. This represents a 1.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,312,124. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $57.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.24, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.53. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.22 and a 12-month high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ESNT. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Essent Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.43.

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.