The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $4.95 Million in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 77,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.09% of Essent Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Winmill & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $13,788,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,199,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $324,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $22,617,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.8%

Essent Group stock opened at $67.63 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.34 and a 12 month high of $70.37. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid 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 yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ESNT. Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,039,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,921,148.37. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,848 shares of company stock worth $6,726,789. Corporate insiders own 3.60% 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.