Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Posted by Brenda Bartman on May 28th, 2026

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT – Free Report) by 48.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,675 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.86.

Check Out Our Latest Report on ESNT

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $59.39 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.22 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.79. The company has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $276,292.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares in the company, valued at $15,169,173.36. This represents a 1.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,312,124. The trade was a 0.59% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Profile

(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.