Quantinno Capital Management LP Sells 10,788 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Quantinno Capital Management LP decreased its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 36.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,788 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,173,000 after acquiring an additional 372,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 275,149 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $69.53 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.34 and a 12-month high of $70.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.42 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $33,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 198,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,891,430. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% 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 sold 40,320 shares of company stock worth $2,625,422 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

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.