Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons Sells 224 Shares

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 224 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $13,446.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 254,799 shares in the company, valued at $15,295,583.97. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Mary Lourdes Gibbons also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 12th, Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 1,777 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $106,744.39.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $59.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.31. The company has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $65.34.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $317.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $311.18 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 58.69% and a return on equity of 13.35%. Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.16%.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESNT. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.71.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.