Summit Global Investments Purchases New Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 16,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,082,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Essent Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 40,320 shares of company stock worth $2,625,422 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE ESNT opened at $69.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $55.34 and a one year high of $70.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $63.96 and its 200-day moving average is $61.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Equities research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.42 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

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.