Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Sells $55,867.98 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 798 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $55,867.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,038,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,742,898.93. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 Wednesday, August 19th, Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49.
• On Tuesday, August 18th, Mark Casale sold 20,246 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total transaction of $1,420,864.28.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15.
• 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 stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $244,632.63.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $68.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.34 and a twelve month high of $70.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.59.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.