Norges Bank Takes Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,392,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $155,516,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 2.47% of Essent Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Essent Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 51,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,302,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $276,292.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 233,336 shares in the company, valued at $15,169,173.36. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,312,124. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.7%

Essent Group stock opened at $55.82 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.63. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.78. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.22 and a 52-week high of $67.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. Analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.43.

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.