Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 129,672 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $206,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 51,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at $144,312,124. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Essent Group Price Performance
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Essent Group Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.94%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
ESNT has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.86.
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.
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