Peregrine Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Peregrine Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 4.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 207,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,812 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $12,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after acquiring an additional 85,295 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 437,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,855 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,983,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 132.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 24,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,136,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $276,292.50. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 31,314 shares of company stock worth $2,010,987 in the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $64.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.78. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.22 and a 1-year high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The company had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.57.

Essent Group 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.