Strs Ohio Sells 15,800 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 61.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,800 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the third quarter worth $1,398,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in Essent Group by 21.3% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 437,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,855 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,336,000 after purchasing an additional 85,295 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Essent Group by 19.6% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,223,000 after purchasing an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 132.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 24,139 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.86.

Essent Group Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of ESNT opened at $63.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.22 and a 52 week high of $67.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.15 and a 200-day moving average of $61.75.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 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 Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,312,124. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Essent Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Essent Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Essent Group beat first-quarter expectations, reporting $1.82 in EPS versus consensus around $1.72-$1.75, while revenue of $336.1 million also topped estimates. MarketBeat earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: The company said quarterly revenue rose 5.8% year over year, and profitability remained solid with a 12.09% return on equity and 54.72% net margin.
• Positive Sentiment: Essent Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, signaling continued capital returns to shareholders and implying a 2.2% annualized yield. GlobeNewswire dividend and results release
• Neutral Sentiment: Management discussed the results on multiple earnings calls and transcripts, but no additional major negative surprise was highlighted in the provided updates. Motley Fool transcript

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.