Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,392,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $155,516,000.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after acquiring an additional 85,295 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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. 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 valued at $126,900,000 after acquiring an additional 13,318 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 45.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,173,000 after acquiring an additional 372,881 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Essent Group
In related news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,312,124. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $276,292.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares in the company, valued at $15,169,173.36. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ESNT
Essent Group Stock Down 0.7%
Shares of ESNT opened at $55.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.78. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.22 and a 1 year high of $67.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Essent Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.94%.
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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