Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Director Douglas Pauls Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. This trade represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $69.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $65.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.10. 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 fifty-two week low of $55.34 and a fifty-two week high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised 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 valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% 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.