Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 659,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,098 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $38,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,180,000 after buying an additional 669,577 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Essent Group by 45.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,173,000 after buying an additional 372,881 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Essent Group by 152.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,682,000 after buying an additional 275,149 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $65.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.34 and a 52-week high of $67.46.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $276,292.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 233,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,169,173.36. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 57,151 shares of company stock worth $3,717,718. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

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.