Mary Lourdes Gibbons Sells 872 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 872 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $54,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 245,214 shares in the company, valued at $15,448,482. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Monday, April 20th, Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $63.18 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.11 and a 12-month high of $67.09. 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 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.54.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.Essent Group’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays decreased 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. Roth Mkm boosted 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company 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.