Voya Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 153,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 74,863 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $9,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 117.8% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 10,032 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 285.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 3,794 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 21.7% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 28,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 2.7% in the second quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $65.84 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.67.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.