Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 159,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,444 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $10,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp grew its position in Essent Group by 192.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at $144,312,124. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,169,173.36. This represents a 1.79% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $55.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.22 and a 12-month high of $67.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.63.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The business 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.43.

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.