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 Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total transaction of $376,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,055,788.76. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Price Performance

ESNT stock opened at $67.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.89. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.34 and a 52-week high of $70.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid 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, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 19,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 10.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.