Susquehanna International Group LLP Decreases Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Susquehanna International Group LLP reduced its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,648 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the third 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,921,148.37. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 98,848 shares of company stock valued at $6,726,789 over the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1%

ESNT stock opened at $68.99 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.10 and a 200-day moving average of $62.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $55.34 and a one year high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (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. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

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.