Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Sells $244,632.63 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $244,632.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,214,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,978,752.17. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, April 28th, Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $64.80. 600,140 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 784,238. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.31. 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 $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.22 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.35 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ESNT. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at about $346,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Essent Group by 160.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% 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.