Mark Casale Sells 29,329 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, July 6th, Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total transaction of $81,024.60.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $244,632.63.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $64.40 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.26. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.22 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly 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. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The firm had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $92,180,000 after buying an additional 669,577 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 372,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake 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 worth $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 275,149 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.57.

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.