Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 22,000 Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 27.8% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Essent Group in the third quarter valued at $132,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 21.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of ESNT opened at $63.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.91. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Essent Group from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.29.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,448,325.12. The trade was a 12.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group 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.