Mark Casale Sells 1,245 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total value of $81,024.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,213,472 shares in the company, valued at $144,052,757.76. This represents a 0.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $244,632.63.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $64.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.22 and a 52 week high of $67.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.64 and its 200 day moving average is $61.26.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Essent Group’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Evanson Financial LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $381,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 10.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 2.4% during the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMG Holdings L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the first quarter worth about $3,506,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ESNT. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.57.

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.