Assetmark Inc. Raises Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 92,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,882 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $5,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,173,000 after purchasing an additional 372,881 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Essent Group by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,682,000 after purchasing an additional 275,149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,151 shares of company stock valued at $3,717,718. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $65.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.24. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $55.34 and a fifty-two week high of $67.46.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $336.07 million for 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Essent Group Company 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.