Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CFO Sells $349,305.00 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, 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 accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $64.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.59 and a 200-day moving average of $61.31. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 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 Ltd. has a one year low of $55.22 and a one year high of $67.09.

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 business had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Essent Group by 790.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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 report on Thursday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.