Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Reduces Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lowered its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 67.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,458 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after purchasing an additional 85,295 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,628,000 after buying an additional 129,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $155,516,000. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,900,000 after buying an additional 13,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,864,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,183,000 after buying an additional 567,103 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $65.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.24. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.22 and a twelve month 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESNT. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. The trade was 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 accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 65,651 shares of company stock worth $4,253,294. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.