Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Sells $81,024.60 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNTGet Free Report) CEO Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total value of $81,024.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,213,472 shares in the company, valued at $144,052,757.76. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

  • On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15.
  • 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.
  • On Tuesday, April 28th, Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT traded down $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.08. 922,008 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 923,992. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.22 and a 52-week high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNTGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ESNT. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Thursday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.57.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on ESNT

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,336,000 after purchasing an additional 85,295 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,628,000 after buying an additional 129,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth $155,516,000. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,900,000 after buying an additional 13,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,864,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,183,000 after buying an additional 567,103 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT)

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