Insider Selling: Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Sells $106,744.39 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $106,744.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 253,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,199,031.54. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Mary Lourdes Gibbons also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 9th, Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 224 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $13,446.72.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.9%

Essent Group stock opened at $59.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $317.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.18 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.16%.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 208,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,431,000 after acquiring an additional 126,899 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,993,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Essent Group by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 36,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 3,637 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Essent Group by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Essent Group by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ESNT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.71.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.