8,473 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Purchased by Walleye Capital LLC

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter worth $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Essent Group by 790.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $69.53 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.18. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.00. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Roth Capital upped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $33,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 198,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,891,430. The trade was a 0.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 40,320 shares of company stock worth $2,625,422 in the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.