First Trust Advisors LP Has $9.23 Million Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 66.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 318,695 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.17% of Essent Group worth $9,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at about $346,000. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Essent Group by 160.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock worth $2,591,612. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $66.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.05 and a 200-day moving average of $61.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $68.62.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.94%.

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.