Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale Sells 21,607 Shares of Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,921,148.37. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Tuesday, August 18th, Mark Casale sold 20,246 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total transaction of $1,420,864.28.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $244,632.63.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.7%

ESNT opened at $68.59 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.99. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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, equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,336,000 after acquiring an additional 85,295 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,983,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 132.2% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 24,139 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,485,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,136,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.