The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 77,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,983,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,485,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $107,114,521. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,136,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 485,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,550,000 after purchasing an additional 62,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $67.63 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 98,848 shares of company stock valued at $6,726,789. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ESNT. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.