Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CFO Sells 5,500 Shares

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total transaction of $376,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 29,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,055,788.76. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT traded down $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $67.57. 583,715 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 720,815. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.47 and its 200 day moving average is $62.81. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ESNT. Roth Capital raised their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $798,836,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 129,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $155,516,000. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,900,000 after purchasing an additional 13,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $107,114,521. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.