Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $709,000 in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $227,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $107,114,521,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $798,836,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $43,068,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares in the company, valued at $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,348 shares of company stock worth $6,552,539. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $68.10 on Monday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.02.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Three equities 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, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

About Essent Group

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.