Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Sells $1,420,864.28 in Stock

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Aug 23rd, 2026

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) CEO Mark Casale sold 20,246 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total value of $1,420,864.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,061,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,661,893.64. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

On Wednesday, August 19th, Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49.
On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15.
On Monday, July 6th, Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total value of $81,024.60.
On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $244,632.63.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $68.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $55.34 and a fifty-two week high of $70.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.06 and a 200-day moving average of $62.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. As a group, analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESNT. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Essent Group

About Essent Group

(Get Free Report)

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.