WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires New Stake in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 102,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,668,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned about 0.11% of Essent Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 192.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $57.39 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.57. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.78. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.22 and a 12-month high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.43.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,169,173.36. This trade represents a 1.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $144,312,124. The trade was a 0.59% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

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.