WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 102,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,668,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% during the 2nd 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. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 45.2% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 275,149 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts recently commented on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings cut Essent Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.43.
Insider Activity
In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total value of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,312,124. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.
Essent Group Stock Performance
Shares of ESNT opened at $57.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 1.59 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.
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.94%.
About Essent Group
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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