Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 22,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESNT. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in Essent Group by 19.6% in the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,223,000 after buying an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 78.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,596,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,027,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,396,000 after purchasing an additional 45,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 941,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,168,000 after buying an additional 28,261 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $63.67 on Tuesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $67.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.91. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $311.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,939,032. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $199,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Profile

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.