Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Sells $244,632.63 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $244,632.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,214,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,978,752.17. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their position. The sale 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.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, April 28th, Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $64.80 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $55.22 and a fifty-two week high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The company 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%.Essent Group’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,336,000 after purchasing an additional 85,295 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,628,000 after buying an additional 129,672 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $155,516,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,900,000 after buying an additional 13,318 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,864,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,183,000 after acquiring an additional 567,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

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.