Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Director Sells $332,350.27 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total value of $332,350.27. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,714.31. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $67.72 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.81. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%.The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ESNT. Roth Capital upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $798,836,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,628,000 after acquiring an additional 129,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,516,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,900,000 after purchasing an additional 13,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $107,114,521. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.