Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale Sells 13,064 Shares of Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,312,124. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 $60.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.22 and a 52-week high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 20.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,173,000 after acquiring an additional 372,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 19.6% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,223,000 after acquiring an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.86.

About Essent Group

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.