Vest Financial LLC Lowers Stake in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Vest Financial LLC lowered its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 46.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,605 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% in the third 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. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 192.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $60.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.07 and its 200 day moving average is $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 released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 20.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $276,292.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,169,173.36. This represents a 1.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,312,124. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.86.

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.