David Weinstock Sells 5,500 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT opened at $64.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.31. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.22 and a 1 year high of $67.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. 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 report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after buying an additional 85,295 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 437,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,832,000 after buying an additional 76,855 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,983,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 132.2% in the fourth 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. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,136,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.