Mary Lourdes Gibbons Sells 7,628 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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.

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

• On Friday, April 17th, Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 872 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $54,936.00.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $63.18 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.54. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.11 and a 52 week high of $67.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.87.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The business had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. Essent Group’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Essent Group by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on 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 dropped their price target on Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.86.

About Essent Group

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.