Vijay Bhasin Sells 483 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $33,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 198,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,891,430. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $69.53 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.00.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (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 analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after buying an additional 85,295 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,983,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 132.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 24,139 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,485,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,136,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.