Mark Casale Sells 20,246 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 20,246 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total transaction of $1,420,864.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,061,298 shares in the company, valued at $144,661,893.64. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 19th, Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15.
• On Monday, July 6th, Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total transaction of $81,024.60.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $244,632.63.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $68.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.53%.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently 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.