Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $2.08 Million in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 32,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,336,000 after buying an additional 85,295 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,983,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,485,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,136,000. Finally, Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $107,114,521. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ESNT. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $68.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.19. The stock has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $55.34 and a one year high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at $142,733,745.05. The trade was 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,848 shares of company stock valued at $6,726,789. 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.